Challenging ideological perspectives maintained for millennia, the mathematization of the infinite that took place in the last half of the 19th century was understandably destined to be controversial. Georg Cantor, as we know from the scholarship of Joseph Dauben and others, was preoccupied with the theological implications of this work and communicated his ideas to officials in the Catholic Church as a way of, among other things, ameliorating tensions. By the early 20th century others were prepared to assign spiritual significance to contemporary investigations into the infinite and attempted to share their convictions with readers who first needed to be made aware of the mathematical conceptions that underpinned them.

This paper considers the dissemination and contestation of the new infinite, as it was heralded in early reports, through writing that was directed primarily at non-specialist readers. A particular source of interest is the Hibbert Journal, which was published in Britain from 1902 and dedicated to serving a thoughtful public by representing a multiplicity of views on religion, theology, and philosophy, including reflections on mathematical and scientific innovations. In particular, from its inaugural issue it became a conduit for the circulation of mathematical developments related to transfinite investigations, one that featured an impressive cohort of participants from England and America. Through articles and responses published in the Hibbert Journal, and elsewhere, we find evidence of the public dissemination of information related to the new infinite that lends itself to exploring contemporary modes of knowledge transmission not specifically tailored for experts or practitioners. Against a backdrop of continuing professionalization, work of mathematical import appearing there exposed readers to points of foundational contention associated with the new infinite, contributed to progressive discourses in theology, and engaged in a recuperative re-examination of the discipline that highlighted its humanistic relevance.