4 ms·
TIL Lewis Caroll was also a mathematician.
by eulgro 3y ago
TIL Lewis Caroll was also a mathematician.
- thundermuffin 3y agoNot 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-secret-ingredient-math https://www.npr.org/2010/03/13/124632317/the-mad-hatters-sec...
- tmtvl 3y agoI second the recommendation for The Annotated Alice, even if many references fly over my head as I'm not much of a mathemagician.
- thumbuddy 3y agoThat 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.
- heresie-dabord 3y agoDodgson/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 3y agoHow so?
- inopinatus 3y agoYou may be further intrigued to hear that Hedy Lamarr invented frequency-hopping spread spectrum, Felix Hausdorff was a playwright, Neil Young has multiple patents relating to model train control, Isaac Newton is frequently credited with the invention of the catflap, Brian May holds a PhD in astrophysics, and don't even get me started on Leonardo da Vinci.
- scrps 3y agoI'll add to the list: Dolph Lundgren won a Fulbright to MIT and has a masters in chemical engineering.
- dlkf 3y agoDa Vinci was a renaissance man?
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- peanutcrisis 3y agoAnd Tony Hoare was a "Classics and Philosophy" major.
- spidersenses 3y ago>Hedy Lamarr invented frequency-hopping spread spectrum Even after reading her biography, I'm still not convinced that she actually invented, or even worked on the technology. I find it much more likely that she either funded the patenting process, and in this way got her name on the application, or that the "co"-inventor put her name on it out of admiration, thereby securing interest in the patent thanks to Lamarr's fame.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]