Principle of Mathematical Induction

i came across a statement in ncert:

"Since N is the smallest subset of R which is an inductive set,it follows that any subset of R that is an inductive set must contain N"

could somebody plz elaborate what this means?

√ √ || {} [] () → ~ ^ x x x → → ln log lg lim lim cos sin tan cot arcsin arccos arctan

∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∬ ∬ ∬ ∬ ∬ ∭ ∭ ∭ ∭ ∭ ⨌ ⨌ ⨌ ⨌ ⨌

∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∮ ∮ ∮ ∮ ∮ ∏ ∏ ∏ ∏ ∏ ∐ ∐ ∐ ∐ ∐

+ - × ÷ ± ∓ = ∪ ∩ ≠ ∼ ≈ ∅ ∀ ∃ ∈ ∋ ∝ ≤ ≥ ≃ ≅ ≡ < > ≪ ≫ ⊂ ∉ ⊃ ⊆ ⊇ ⇒ ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ ⇐ ⇔ ⇑ ⇓ ⇕ → ← ↔ → ← ↔ ↑ ↓ ↕ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↪ ↩ ⇀ ↼ ⇁ ↽

° ∂ ∞ α β γ δ θ λ μ ν ξ π ρ σ φ ω ε ƒ κ τ υ Γ Δ Λ Σ Π Ω