This is discussed in Chapter 7-Number Systems and Number Theory. N Alice unsuccessfully tries to remember her multiplication tables, saying “Let me see: four times five is twelve, and four times six is thirteen, and four times seven is-oh dear!” Mathematicians know that 4 × 5 = 12, if we use base 18 rather than the familiar base 10, and that 4 × 6 = 13, in base 21. Many scholars now believe that Dodgson’s whimsical works actually contain elaborate exercises in logic and metaphors for the world of mathematics. ![]() MANY PEOPLE ARE QUITE SURPRISED TO LEARN that Lewis Carroll is the pen name of the nineteenth century Oxford mathematician Charles Dodgson. Readers, Carroll’s writings seem to be delightful nonsense and mere children’s entertainment filled with journeys to fantastic lands containing strange and wonderful characters. N In Dodgson’s era, mathematicians at times used the original Arabic term for algebra- “al-jabr w’al muquabala,” or “restoration and opposition.” This interesting bit of history is discussed in Chapter 13-the Concepts and History of Calculus. ![]() THE ALICE STORIES WERE WRITTEN BY CHARLES DODGSON IN THE MID- AND LATE-1800’S, UNDER THE PEN NAME OF LEWIS CARROLL.
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