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According to most modern [[mathematics]] and [[logic]] textbooks a '''natural number''' is a non-negative [[integer]] such as 0, 1, 2, 3,... etc . Older books sometimes exclude [[zero]], as there is a long history of people thinking that zero is unnatural or not really a number.

According to most modern [[mathematics]] and [[logic]] textbooks a '''natural number''' is a non-negative [[integer]] such as 0, 1, 2, 3,... etc. <ref>Unfortunately, 0 is sometimes also included in the list of "natural" numbers (Bourbaki 1968, Halmos 1974), and there seems to be no general agreement about whether to include it. In fact, Ribenboim (1996) states "Let P be a set of natural numbers; whenever convenient, it may be assumed that 0 in P." [http://mathworld.wolfram.com/NaturalNumber.html (Wolfram)] </ref>

Older books sometimes exclude [[zero]], as there is a long history of people thinking that zero is unnatural or not really a number.

[[Category:Mathematics]]

[[Category:Mathematics]]