ABSTRACT
Cantor’s continuum hypothesis (CH) is one of the great outstanding problems of modern mathematics. Hilbert made it number one on his famous list of problems in 1900. After decades of trying, it turned out to be a hopeless task. Gödel and Cohen showed it to be independent of the other axioms of set theory. And yet, the question of its truth remains open. It may have been settled in the negative by Chris Freiling, but his ‘refutation’ has gone largely unnoticed, perhaps because it was by means of a remarkable thought experiment, a method that is far removed from common approaches, but one that would get a sympathetic hearing from those who like picture proofs. By fleshing out some of the details, perhaps we can show it in a favourable light. This might in turn generate some serious interest in the result itself and in the unusual method used to achieve it. After a few more introductory remarks, I will explain the result in detail.
