Hey maahey
Since neither my knowledge nor my explanatory powers are up to it, and I don't even know if you're interested, I will do as Anil Warner always recommended and 'bash on regardless'.
Alpeh-null, which is represented by the 'squiggly' figure in tsuwm's link, is the number representing what we, in layman's terms, call 'infinity'. This is the number of items in the set of number 1,2,3.... (continue counting for ever, adding one each time).
The mathematically interesting thing about this is that there are sets with more items in them than this 'normal' or 'everyday' infinity.
For instance, the set of rational numbers (all possible fractions made out of integers), has exactly the same number of members as the set of natural (or counting) numbers: Aleph-null. The set of irrational numbers, on the other hand (square root of two, three, five etc and e and pi) has 'infinitely' more members than Aleph-null. It is often (always? correct me some mathematicians) represented as Aleph-one.
All infinite sets, aleph-null upwards, have some peculiar properties, including this - aleph-null minus one is still equal to aleph-null. Hence the joke about the beer bottles.
Hope this helps.
cheer
the sunshine warrior
