Lewis Carroll in Numberland: His Fantastical Mathematical Logical Life

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Just when we thought we knew everything about Lewis Carroll, here comes this -insightful . . . scholarly . . . serious- (John Butcher, American Scientist) biography that will appeal to Alice fans everywhere. Fascinated by the inner life of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, Robin Wilson, a Carroll scholar and a noted mathematics professor, has produced this revelatory book-filled with more than one hundred striking and often playful illustrations-that examines the many inspirations and sources for Carroll-s fantastical writings, mathematical and otherwise. As Wilson demonstrates, Carroll made significant contributions to subjects as varied as voting patterns and the design of tennis tournaments, in the process creating large numbers of imaginative recreational puzzles based on mathematical ideas.

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Item number (ASIN): B001FA0ORS
Author: Robin Wilson
Category: Kindle Edition
Dewey Decimal Number: 510.92
Edition: 1
Format: Kindle Book
Languages:
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 208
Publication Date: June 14, 2010
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Release Date: June 14, 2010

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Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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- Good insight into Dodgson's mathematics work
Although Charles Dodgson's literary works are of course very well known, his mathematical work is more obscure. In fact, his mathematics is notable not so much for its importance in the strict development of mathematics but rather for the algorithmic aesthetic that infused all of Dodgson's work. Dodgson was particularly interested in systematizing rules of thought, and he strove to do this in two areas, symbolic logic and linear algebra (notably determinants) that would not really yield to the power of the computer for generations. At the same time, Dodgson's interest in the paradoxes of systematization, in the interplay between algorithm and intuition, informed his fiction work and his work on puzzles as well. This pleasant, easy-to-read book nicely captures the milieu of Oxford mathematics education in the nineteenth century generally and Charles Dodgson's life in that milieu in particular. Notable is the affection for scholarship for its own sake, and for a much more sedate pace of life, than obtains nowadays. Even in political science, Dodgson was way ahead of his time in his interest in systematizing voting protocols; although he did not anticipate Arrow's theorem, he at least did some preparatory work. As a strict mathematician, however, Dodgson did not have the deep technique of the great 19th century mathematicians. His work rarely exceeds very basic mathematics, what would now be learned, perhaps in less detail, in middle school. There is, at least in the book, no calculus, no complex variables, no power series, no abstract algebra, no non-Euclidean geometry, no infinite set theory, not even impossibility proofs. He deals with Euclidean geometry (plane geometry in the examples) and some basic linear algebra. At the same time, with this limited palette, Dodgson addressed very important problems - the problems he worked on all wound up leading to major, important fields (computational logic, computational linear algebra, and voting theory). Not only does this book give insight into Dodgson's work and character, it also has some fascinating old exam papers from that time period. Indeed, the book would have been substantially improved had it included more facsimiles of period-authentic examinations and textbooks (as well as, for that matter, a bit more explanation of the somewhat confusing system - to American readers - of exams and matriculation at Oxford). But what it does have is interesting. An example of a nice puzzle by Carroll is from The Tangled Tale: a traveller walks along level ground and up a hill, then returns the way; leaving at 3:00 PM and returning at 9:00 PM that day; travelling at 3, 4, and 6 mph uphill, level and downhill respectively. How far did he travel and when, within a half-hour, did he reach the top of the hill? A nice exam problem from Oxford at the time was to solve (x+sqrt(a^2-x^2))/(x-sqrt(a^2-x^2)) = b , where one presumes this is over the reals. There is something relaxing about math before the high-powered modern machinery took hold, everything concrete and finite.

Rating:

- Very Interesting Book
I liked this book because it is a bio of Lewis Carroll from a mathematical standpoint. Yes, it does touch on his literary career, but is mostly about his development as a mathematician and an Oxford Don.

Rating:

- A Mathematical Biography
In this short but charming book, the author introduces the reader to Charles Dodgson whose pen name was Lewis Carroll - creator of Alice in Wonderland. Although the book is categorized as a biography, relatively little of Dodgson personal life is presented. Instead, the author has chosen to focus more on his mathematical genius and accomplishments. Nevertheless, one can glimpse what Dodgson's life must have been like through the many quotes from his diary and his letters, as well as through his dedication and passion for thinking up and solving various mathematical problems - several of which are presented in this book. The writing style is clear, friendly, authoritative and engaging. The book's 209 pages of main text include a great many interesting pictures and useful diagrams, thus making this a relatively short read. Because of its many mathematical problems and brain teasers, this book would most likely be loved the most by math buffs.

Rating:

- A puzzling fellow
For most people familiar with Lewis Carroll, it is because he was the writer of that classic story, Alice in Wonderland. What's less known is that even before he made his name in literature, he was a mathematician of some prominence, and that this field would creep into his fictional writing. Actually, Lewis Carroll was a pseudonym for Charles Dodgson, an Oxford educated mathematician of the mid-1800s. He would also teach at Oxford and start to write his stories there, as well as mathematical works. Always eager to please children (including the inspirational Alice), he would become one of the first people to develop recreational mathematics, a field that focuses on some of the more wonderfully entertaining aspects of numbers (particularly the whole numbers). Robin Wilson's Lewis Carroll in Wonderland serves as a biography of Dodgson/Carroll, focusing on his work in math. The first half or so is more filled with biographical facts; it is in the second half that we get more of the math, most of which requires no higher learning in the field. We get some of the word play, puzzles, logic problems and riddles that were Carroll's forte. Many are interesting, but admittedly, some of the problems that seem presented as logic problems are anything but, coming off more as tricky riddles and leaving the reader feel a little cheated. If you have an interest in the life of Lewis Carroll, this would probably be a good book to read; on the other hand, if you enjoy recreational mathematics, this book is merely okay. I tend to think of this book more as a biography, so I'll rate it as a good, four-star read, well-written and with plenty of illustrations.

Rating:

- "Begin at the beginning," the King said, very gravely,
and go on till you come to the end: then stop." Excellent advice, of course, but in the case of Charles Dodgson, the story is so enormous, one may never finish. Author of the two famous Alice books, creator of hundreds of early photographs, mathematician with papers on logic, algebra, geometry and the mathematics of voting, author of almost 100,000 letters, and diarist with ten massive collected volumes -- it's amazing that one person could produce such a volume of work. The Alice books have gone through hundreds of editions over the years, there are collections of his puzzles and scholarly analyses of his works on the mathematics of voting (some of which would cast light on the complexities of Amazon's Ranking systems). Dodgson was even something of a wine expert with a delicious spoof on wine tasting based on experts in tasting jam (see the first Comment). Robin Wilson has put together an excellent summary of Dodgson's life and some superb extracts from his writing for children. He alludes to his contributions to photography, albeit with very few examples; Dreaming in Pictures: The Photography of Lewis Carroll by Douglas R. Nickel is an excellent source. The heart of the book is an assessment of Dodgson's work as a mathematician. It's not really necessary to work out all of the problems -- although it is certainly possible to do so with Wilson's help and basic algebra and geometry training. The book moves swiftly, but be warned, some of the problems are so cleverly written, you may find yourself trapped and spend several pleasant minutes, even hours, working your way through to a solution. Either way, you'll come away from this excellent study with a deeper appreciation of Dodgson's complex imagination and with a real appreciation of Wilson's skill in bringing that imagination to life. Robert C. Ross 2009