Background and Motivation

Explore the concepts that will be covered in this course.

We'll cover the following

Overview

This is a beginner-level course that covers the basic concepts of set theory. To give learners hands-on experience and make the course more interactive, we have added example tasks in the Python programming language (Python 3.8). We’ll explore different kinds of sets and their properties and learn about the set operations that allow us to efficiently manipulate sets for various purposes.

Moving forward, we’ll explore the concepts of relation, function, and the Cartesian product. This will allow us to establish meaningful connections between elements of the same or different sets.

Toward the end of this course, we’ll learn about the cardinality of sets, especially those that are infinite. We’ll also cover the classification of sets as countable and uncountable. Last, we’ll show how to use Cantor’s diagonalization method to establish that a set is uncountable.

Intended audience

This course is for learners looking for introductory material on set theory explained in detail using many examples. This course will be highly useful for those who are just beginning to acquire the knowledge necessary for a career in computer science, data science, artificial intelligence, engineering sciences, mathematics, physics, statistics, and other related disciplines.

Prerequisites

There are no specific prerequisites or skills requirements that you must have before starting this course. Learners are expected to be comfortable with elements of propositional logic and notations, some of which are reviewed in the appendix. Although not required, a basic understanding of Python programming will help you comprehend the programming-related tasks covered in this course.

Outcomes

By taking this course, you’ll equip yourself with the knowledge and skills required for understanding higher-level concepts of set theory. You can further apply this information in various fields of computer science, mathematics, and related science disciplines. After completing this course, you should be able to take an advanced course in set theory.