Indeholder "Preface", "Chronology of Events", "Introduction: From gryphons to gravity", " Scene 1: The Mock Turtle's Education", " Scene 2: Humpty Dumpty's Cravat", " Scene 3: Alice's Examination", " Scene 4: What's in a Name?", " Scene 5: The Beaver's Lesson", " Scene 6: Map-making", " Scene 7: Fortunatus's Purse", " Scene 8: A Question of Gravity", "Fit the First: The Children of the North", " Daresbury", " Croft", " Richmond", " Rugby", " Marking Time", "Fit the Second: Uppe toe mine Eyes yn Worke", " An Oxford Undergraduate", " A Trio of Examinations: Responsions, Moderations, Finals", "Fit the Third: Successes and Failures", " The Senior Scholarship", " College Teaching", " A New Appointment", " A Spot of Schoolteaching", " Dodgson as a Teacher", " Poems and Photographs", " Ciphers", "Fit the Fourth: .. in the Second Book of Euclid", " Here's Looking at Euclid", " Dodgson's Pamphlets", " The Dynamics of a Parti-cle", " The Euclid Debate", " Euclid and his Modern Rivals", " Dodgson's Hexagon", " Squaring the Circle", "Fit the Fifth: Send Me the Next Book", " Dodgson the Deacon", " More Pamphlets", " Letters to Child-friends", " An Algebra Lesson: The Algebraic Geometry of the Plane, Determinants, The Algebraic Geometry of Three-dimensional Space, Dodgson's 'Method of Condensation'", " Dodgson's Determinants", " University Whimsy", "Fit the Sixth: Meat-safes, Majorities and Memory", " College Life", " Voting in Elections", " Memoria Technica", " Endings and Beginnings", " Lawn Tennis Tournaments", " Parliamentary Representation", "Fit the Seventh: Puzzles, Problems and Paradoxes", " A Tangled Tale", " Carroll's Puzzles: Arithmetical Puzzles, Geometrical Puzzles, River-crossing Puzzles", " Other Recreations: The Number 42, Finding the Day of the Week, Colouring Maps, The Monkey and the Weight, Every Triangle is Isosceles, A Symmetric Poem", "Fit the Eighth: That's Logic", " Prim Misses and Sillygisms", " The Game of Logic", " Symbolic Logic", " Venn. Carroll and Churchill", " Logic Puzzles and Paradoxes", " What the Tortoise Said to Achilles", "Conclusion: Math and Aftermath", " Pillow-Problems", " Sums of Squares", " Number-guessing", " Divisibility", " Right-angled Triangles", " Epilogue", "Notes and References", "Acknowledgements and Picture Credits", "Index".

En veloplagt bog om Lewis Carroll, der vokser op som velopdraget og højintelligent søn af en begavet præst og dennes kone. Søskendeflokken tæller 11 børn, som alle lever til voksenalderen. Charles Dodgson underholder fra tidlig alder alle sine søskende med historier, gåder og opgaver.

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Lewis Carroll è noto a tutti per le avventure di Alice nel paese delle meraviglie. Alcuni sanno anche della sua mania di fotografare bambine, spingendosi fino a definirlo un depravato sessuale represso (anche se non si hanno notizie di alcun suo atto contro la pubblica decenza). Ma la sua personalità è molto più variegata, come si può leggere in questa biografia che racconta la sua vita a tutto tondo, compreso il suo lavoro come fotografo (uno dei più importanti del XIX secolo), di matematico (onesto, pur senza essere fuori categoria: importanti i suoi lavori sui sistemi di voto) e di persona comunque in prima fila nella società dell'epoca. La traduzione (disclaimer: conosco Franco Ligabue da una vita) è stata un mezzo tour de force per rendere le rime e i giochi di parole dell'originale, per il sollievo del lettore non madrelingua inglese. ( )

Most people know Charles Dodgson as his pen name Lewis Carroll and his work "Alice in Wonderland"; however, he was also a brilliant mathematician. This book documents this life from childhood through his years at Oxford University. In addition to biographical information, Robin Wilson includes many of Dodgson's puzzles and math problems for the reader to solve. The book turns from a biography to a book of logic puzzles. After reading this book, I had to watch Alice in Wonderland again as it gave me an entirely new perspective on the story. The illustrations are a must in this book if the reader is not familiar with the proofs explained in the book. The author also uses many primary sources from Dodgson's writings. Having assigned students mathematicians on which to complete biographies, I have used this book as a reference. Given it can be a difficult read for junior high students, I usually pick out which sections would given them the most relevant information. There are also many puzzles and problems that can be used as weekly challenge problems for students. ( )

An interesting biography of a fascinating man. Prior to reading this book, I had no idea that Dodgson was a pioneer of photography, for example. The book ties together Dodgson's various passions and the currents in his life quite well. However, about three-quarters of the way through the book, it loses its narrative energy, and the book becomes something of a slog to finish. ( )

A short biographical treatment of Charles Dodgson (pen name Lewis Carroll) containing several examples of his mathematical interests. I was interested to learn how the Alice series came to be written as a logical and natural result of his character since childhood. He was a multi-talented man, according to author, who would be perhaps best known for his photography, if it were not for the Alice books. Yet he was an original and brilliant mathematician, as well as a teacher of mathematics constantly searching for ways to motivate and explain his subject. I found the mathematical materials of great interest, but they could have been weeded down into fewer examples. There are fine helps for the reader, such as maps, illustrations, photographs, and notes.

One small fact I'll remember: n the pronunciation of 'Dodgson,' the 'g' is silent. ( )