The German mathematician Georg Ferdinand Ludwig Philipp Cantor (1845-1918) was noted for his theory of sets and his bold analysis of the "actual" infinite, which provoked a critical examination of the foundations of mathematics and eventually transformed nearly every branch.

Georg Cantor was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, on March 3, 1845. He was German only by tenure. His father was a Danish Jew who converted to Protestantism and made his fortune in merchandising; his mother was a Roman Catholic whose family was richly endowed with musicians and artists. The Cantor family moved to Frankfurt, Germany, when Georg was 11. When he entered the Wiesbaden gymnasium at the age of 15, his mathematical talent was already evident.

In 1862 Cantor entered the University of Zurich. After a year he transferred to Berlin, where he studied mathematics and received his doctorate in 1867. Two years later he joined the faculty of the University of Halle...