[thundermuffin]

Not only was he a mathematician, but Alice is considered partially a commentary on the state of mathematics at the time! [0] It's one of my (irrational) pet peeves that modern audiences often try to explain his books as some kind of Victorian era equivalent to a Cheech and Chong movie about drugs when there's so much more hidden away in the pages. These two books are my favorite books ever, and I'd give an arm and a leg if I could ever get my hands on an original copy, haha.

I highly recommend The Annotated Alice for anyone interested in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, because it makes a couple of fun, curious reads even curiouser! ;)

[0] https://www.npr.org/2010/03/13/124632317/the-mad-hatters-sec...

[heresie-dabord]

Dodgson/Carroll was a witty writer. This is so good a passage that it has influenced modern English:

- - -

"I'VE been to a day-school, too," said Alice, "you needn't be so proud as all that."

"With extras?" asked the Mock Turtle a little anxiously.

"Yes,' said Alice, "we learned French and music."

"And washing?' said the Mock Turtle.

"Certainly not!" said Alice indignantly.

"Ah! then yours wasn't a really good school," said the Mock Turtle in a tone of great relief. "Now at OURS they had at the end of the bill, 'French, music, AND WASHING--extra.'"

"You couldn't have wanted it much," said Alice, "living at the bottom of the sea."

"I couldn't afford to learn it." said the Mock Turtle with a sigh. "I only took the regular course."

"What was that?" inquired Alice.

"Reeling and Writhing, of course, to begin with," the Mock Turtle replied, "and then the different branches of Arithmetic-- Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision."

"I never heard of 'Uglification'," Alice ventured to say. "What is it?"

The Gryphon lifted up both its paws in surprise. "What! Never heard of uglifying!" it exclaimed. "You know what to beautify is, I suppose?"

"Yes," said Alice doubtfully, "it means--to--make--anything--prettier."

"Well, then," the Gryphon went on, "if you don"t know what to uglify is, you ARE a simpleton."

- - -

[hgsgm]

How so?

[thumbuddy]

That makes a lot of sense actually. Thanks for sharing this anecdote. Sometimes brilliant people get buried because of their eccentricities and it deters from the meaning of their life's work.

[tmtvl]

I second the recommendation for The Annotated Alice, even if many references fly over my head as I'm not much of a mathemagician.