One of the numbers 1, 2, 3, ... (Sloane's A000027), also called the Counting Numbers or Natural Numbers. 0 is sometimes included in the list of ``whole'' numbers (Bourbaki 1968, Halmos 1974), but there seems to be no general agreement. Some authors also interpret ``whole number'' to mean ``a number having Fractional Part of zero,'' making the whole numbers equivalent to the integers.
Due to lack of standard terminology, the following terms are recommended in preference to ``Counting Number,'' ``Natural Number,'' and ``whole number.''
Set | Name | Symbol |
..., , , 0, 1, 2, ... | integers | Z |
1, 2, 3, 4, ... | positive integers | Z+ |
0, 1, 2, 3, 4 ... | nonnegative integers | Z* |
, , , , ... | negative integers | Z- |
See also Counting Number, Fractional Part, Integer, N, Natural Number, Z, Z+, Z+, Z*
References
Bourbaki, N. Elements of Mathematics: Theory of Sets. Paris, France: Hermann, 1968.
Halmos, P. R. Naive Set Theory. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1974.
Sloane, N. J. A. Sequence
A000027/M0472
in ``An On-Line Version of the Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences.''
http://www.research.att.com/~njas/sequences/eisonline.html and Sloane, N. J. A. and Plouffe, S.
The Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences. San Diego: Academic Press, 1995.