http://www.lewiscarroll.org/2010/03/08/algebra-in-wonderland-in-sundays-new-york-times/ The official web site of the LCSNA Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:41:21 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.2 http://www.lewiscarroll.org/2010/03/08/algebra-in-wonderland-in-sundays-new-york-times/comment-page-1/#comment-258 Helena Pycior Wed, 31 Mar 2010 12:45:52 +0000 http://www.lewiscarroll.org/?p=1624#comment-258 In 1984 I published an article in which I argued that "The _Alices_ embodied the mathematician Dodgson's misgivings about symbolical algebra, the major British contribution to mathematics of the first half of the nineteenth century." To examine the evidence for my thesis, see: Helena M. Pycior, "At the Intersection of Mathematics and Humor: Lewis Carroll's _Alices_ and Symbolical Algebra," _Victorian Studies_ 28, 1 (Autumn 1984): 149-170. The article was reprinted in _Energy and Entropy: Science and Culture in Victorian Britain_, ed. Patrick Brantlinger (Indiana University Press, 1989). In 1984 I published an article in which I argued that “The _Alices_ embodied the mathematician Dodgson’s misgivings about symbolical algebra, the major British contribution to mathematics of the first half of the nineteenth century.” To examine the evidence for my thesis, see: Helena M. Pycior, “At the Intersection of Mathematics and Humor: Lewis Carroll’s _Alices_ and Symbolical Algebra,” _Victorian Studies_ 28, 1 (Autumn 1984): 149-170. The article was reprinted in _Energy and Entropy: Science and Culture in Victorian Britain_, ed. Patrick Brantlinger (Indiana University Press, 1989).

]]> http://www.lewiscarroll.org/2010/03/08/algebra-in-wonderland-in-sundays-new-york-times/comment-page-1/#comment-72 James Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:55:43 +0000 http://www.lewiscarroll.org/?p=1624#comment-72 Plus, it's the Duchess who makes the axis/axes pun. Plus, it’s the Duchess who makes the axis/axes pun.

]]> http://www.lewiscarroll.org/2010/03/08/algebra-in-wonderland-in-sundays-new-york-times/comment-page-1/#comment-71 sue welsch Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:29:25 +0000 http://www.lewiscarroll.org/?p=1624#comment-71 I think that the author is reaching for straws, but often that is what people do in doctoral dissertations. Only Dodgson himself could say that she was absolutely wrong, so it is safe for her to make these wild conjectures. Any one of us could go through his books and find math words and analogies. Axes for Axis is not a revelation. I hope that some true Carroll scholars are on her dissertation committee. I have to disagree with several of her statements. Lewis Carroll wrote pure nonsense for children in many of his poems and stories. I also disagree about her assessment of Sylvie and Bruno, which I find wonderfully amusing. I especially like the Mad Gardener's poems, which seem to me to be pure nonsense. I love the profesor, too. I think that the author is reaching for straws, but often that is what people do in doctoral dissertations. Only Dodgson himself could say that she was absolutely wrong, so it is safe for her to make these wild conjectures. Any one of us could go through his books and find math words and analogies. Axes for Axis is not a revelation. I hope that some true Carroll scholars are on her dissertation committee. I have to disagree with several of her statements. Lewis Carroll wrote pure nonsense for children in many of his poems and stories. I also disagree about her assessment of Sylvie and Bruno, which I find wonderfully amusing. I especially like the Mad Gardener’s poems, which seem to me to be pure nonsense. I love the profesor, too.

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