ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Diels–Kranz numbering

Diels-Kranz numbering is a fancy way of labeling the different sections of a really old book called "the works of Aristotle". Imagine if you had a very long book with lots and lots of different chapters, and you wanted to make sure that everyone reading it knew exactly which chapter you were talking about. That's where Diels-Kranz numbering comes in!

Basically, Diels-Kranz numbering assigns a unique number to each chapter in the book, so that you can easily refer to them. It's like giving each chapter a special name, but using numbers instead.

The way they come up with the numbers is pretty simple. They start at the beginning of the book, and look for the first part that seems like a separate chapter or section. Then they give it the number "1". After that, they keep going through the book, looking for the next section, and giving it the number "2". Then they move on to the third section, and give it the number "3". And so on, until they've labeled all of the chapters in the book.

When people talk about Diels-Kranz numbering, they're usually referring to the specific system that was used to number the different parts of Aristotle's works. But the basic idea of assigning unique numbers to different parts of a book can actually be used for any long or complicated text.

So the next time you're reading a really long book and you want to keep track of which chapter you're on, just remember Diels-Kranz numbering!