Introduction

Zeno the Greek lived in Elea (a town in what is now southern Italy) in the fifth century BC. The paradox for which he is best known today concerns the great warrior Achilles and a previously unknown tortoise. For some reason now lost in the folds of time, a race was arranged between them. Since Achilles could run much faster than the tortoise, the tortoise was given a head start. Zeno's astonishing contribution is a “proof” that Achilles could never catch up with the tortoise no matter how fast he ran and no matter how long the race went on.

The supposed proof goes like this. The first thing Achilles has to do is to get to the place from which the tortoise started. The tortoise, although slow, is unflagging: while Achilles is occupied in making up his handicap, the tortoise advances a little bit further. So the next thing Achilles has to do is to get to the new place the tortoise occupies. While he is doing this, the tortoise will have gone on a little bit further still. However small the gap that remains, it will take Achilles some time to cross it, and in that time the tortoise will have created another gap. So however fast Achilles runs, all the tortoise need do in order not to be beaten is keep going – to make some progress in the time it takes Achilles to close the previous gap between them.