Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2002 / iii / Paper 20 / 1 / ii / Solution

Define the Yoneda embedding $H_{\bullet }:\mathcal{C}\to [{\mathcal{C}}^{\mathrm{op}},\mathbf{Set}]$ by $H_A(U)=\mathcal{C}(U,A)$ and $H_A(k)(h)=hk$. For $f:A\to B$, define $H_{\bullet }(f{)}_U(h)=fh$. Associativity proves naturality in $U$, and preservation of identity morphisms and composition in a category proves that $H_{\bullet }$ is a functor.

Apply the Yoneda lemma to $X=H_B$. It givesThe natural transformation corresponding to $f$ has component $h\mapsto fh$, exactly $H_{\bullet }(f)$. Therefore the induced map on every hom-set is a bijection: the Yoneda embedding is full and faithful.