Disagree, but first, would you agree that “There are a number of books” is correct?
Yes, and that one number is infinite.
I would argue “an infinite number” is plural in the same way “a number” is. Idiomatically, “is” in the sentence in the OP sounds horribly wrong to my ears. Searching for “there are an infinite number” vs" “there is an infinite number” seems to confirm that “there are” is the more natural construction.
Note that Fowler gives “a large number of people were present” as an example. How is this any different than “an infinite number of people”? Infinity is not a number. Try “a limitless number of people.” Would you agree this should take a plural verb?
The whole paragraph should be deleted. Too boring. You need to keep the readers’ attention. As Frylock said, the readers don’t care about continuous learning. When I wrote my personal statement for law school, I tried to tell an interesting story about what led me to quit my career in IT and go to law school instead. Try to tell an engaging story.
A friend of mine recently told me that his whole personal statement hinged on the first sentence. His was, “My interest in law began with my involvement in the largest criminal investigation in Canadian history…” Attention grabbing - yes?
My feeling is that they want to know your emotions, your tragedies that you have overcome, your triumphs - basically what makes your character.
Maybe American schools are different (if that’s where your friend is applying), but I doubt it.
Sorry for the hijack away from the is/are discussion.
I would say that’s a great solution, considering what usually happens. Writing–in any field of study–is a progressive, social act. It’s not about one person, alone, conjuring up something on the spot, without any give and take.
It depends on what that limitless number is.
FTR, I do agree with you in most cases, but not this one.
edit: I’m confused by your underlining of “is” in both your previous posts. There’s no argument whatsoever over what the agreement there would be. That “number” clearly takes the singular.
It’s fine, I just don’t see the difference between “there are a large number of” and “there are an infinite number of.” In the end, it’s usage that really dictates which is right, but I think both usage and Fowler would have my back on this one.
Here’s a rather better worded argument for “are” in this specific instance.
That said, I’m not quite willing to say “is” is unequivocally wrong. “Are” simply sounds better and more natural to me.
The technical meaning of infinite is “endless.” Infinity is not a number.
So what? The real question is how infinite is used in standard, everyday English. There are two main usages. One is “extremely large,” “huge bunches,” or “lots and lots.” The infinite reaches of outer space. The infinite possibilities of the human mind. The other is “indescribably large” or “boundless.” The infinite richness of Bach’s music. The first sense is a plural, the second sense is a singular. Both are metaphorical extensions of the technical term of infinite as endless. Both work as intensifiers. Intensifiers are often redundant and seldom literal. They serve to, well, intensity the condition to convey the importance that that an unmodified noun can’t achieve by itself. Large. Very large. Extremely large. Humongously large. Infinitely large. A metric shitload.
Number has a similar connotation in everyday English. It is not used for a single object but a collection of them. An infinite number is not a literal term, but its connotation is easily understandable as “the exceptional size of the collection.”
Words do not have intrinsic meanings. They have meanings in context. The context of this sentence is to emphasize the overwhelming quantity of objects dealing with the law. There are an infinite number of them.
Saying that infinite is singular and that number is singular and that infinite number is therefore singular is triply wrong. It ignores usage and connotation and context.
pulykamell cited Fowler earlier. Here’s a similar statement from Partridge:
Yes, it should be:
There is literally an infinite number of books, seminars, databases, and journals discussing the law.
Ok, so you are saying there are not an infinite number of books, seminars, databases, and journals discussing the law?
Doesn’t sound right to me…
Wrong… it is exactly in context with the intent oth the author.
“Infinite” is singular as it is an adjective modifying the singular noun “number”.
In this context, “infinite” is being used to mean “extremely large” and number is being used as “a total sum”. Both singular.
So by substitution…
There is an extremely large sum of books, seminars, databases, and journals discussing the law.
There is no doubt that this is the exact meaning the author intends.
Therefore, case closed, context, connotation, and all!
BTW, no proper English speaker would use “triply wrong” in that sentence. Flatly and unequivocally.
Is. Number is singular.
There are a number of things wrong with the reasoning that says “a number of” is singular.
Is there anything grammatically wrong with this post?
-FrL-
Not necessarily relevant.
I’m snipping a bit, of course. Those examples don’t relate to a dummy “there” construction, so it’s possible that speakers might have a touch more latitude to use a singular verb in that particular case. But There are an infinite number of books is certainly grammatically correct, and it would in fact be grammatically incorrect to say *A number of spots has appeared (an example taken straight from the book).
It occurs to me that this thread is an interesting example of why “appeal to authority” is not the bugaboo that some people make it out to be. “Because Big Name X says so” may be insufficient in and of itself. “Because Big Name X says so, here is the reasoning, here are examples, and here are other Big Names who also say the same thing, and by the way there are no examples of Big Names saying the opposite,” is as close to certitude as a non-factual answer can ever be. It would be impossible to function in life without using those criteria as guidelines.
In this thread we have several posters who’ve demonstrated their knowledge in a zillion older threads on language, along with cites to the two major usage authorities of the 20th century, all of whom say, using a variety of examples and explanations, that infinite number is a plural.
On the other side we have Sparky812, who asserts, without examples, explanations, or citations, that infinite number is a singular.
Nobody is going to come down out of the sky and proclaim that one side is right and the other is wrong. You have to decide for yourselves which authority is correct.
A microcosm of life itself. 
Just wanted to pop back in and add that The Little Brown Compact Style Manual has this to say on page 218:
When the subject “number” is preceded by “the,” it takes a singular verb:
“The number of mortgage applications is rising.”
**When the subject “number” is preceded by “a,” it takes a plural verb:
“A number of people are applying for mortgages.”**
Emphasis added, of course.