ABSTRACT
We are all familiar with the behavior of the number one in the ordinary processes of arithmetic. It does not surprise us as does the behavior of zero. In fact, it is so simple that we generally dismiss it as trivial. We do not even bother to learn the “ones” in school, so obvious is it to us that any number when multiplied by one yields a product that is itself and when divided, a quotient that is itself. Yet these simple characteristics of the number one have the greatest implications for the study of numbers.
