Algebra In Wonderland 184
theodp writes "As Tim Burton's 'Alice in Wonderland' shatters 3-D and IMAX records en route to a $116.3 million opening, the NY Times offers a rather cerebral op-ed arguing that Alice's search for a beautiful garden can be neatly interpreted as a mishmash of satire directed at the advances taking place in mid-19th century math. Charles Dodgson, who penned 'Alice' under the name Lewis Carroll, was a tutor in mathematics at Christ Church in Oxford who found the radical new math illogical and lacking in intellectual rigor. Op-ed writer Melanie Bayley explains: 'Chapter 6, "Pig and Pepper," parodies the principle of continuity, a bizarre concept from projective geometry, which was introduced in the mid-19th century from France. This principle (now an important aspect of modern topology) involves the idea that one shape can bend and stretch into another, provided it retains the same basic properties — a circle is the same as an ellipse or a parabola (the curve of the Cheshire cat's grin). Taking the notion to its extreme, what works for a circle should also work for a baby. So, when Alice takes the Duchess's baby outside, it turns into a pig. The Cheshire Cat says, "I thought it would."'"
Not sure about the specifics (Score:5, Interesting)
The weirdness of logic and maths certainly is a large part of Alice, though I doubt it's all of it. But it's fairly obvious to me, just as a geek with a bit of general knowledge, that the Alice books parody a number of things from late-Victorian era politics and education. It's also about puns, wordplay, and the strict application of logic beyond the domains where it applies; and just general nerdy amusement.
* The organising principle of 'Wonderland' is the card game
* The 'Caucus-race' obviously a satire on politics: the members run in a circle, accomplishing nothing except a lot of hot air. http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/caucus_race [wiktionary.org]
I couldn't speak for certain about whether the Mad Hatter's party and the stuckness of Time really is a reference to Hamilton's quaternions, but quaternions are fascinating and they did introduce the idea of a 4D space-time continuum (and therefore time travel) half a century before Einstein/Minkowski, and scandalised and baffled the maths world, so it wouldn't surprise me if that was in the background.
* The organising principle of 'Looking Glass' is the chess game
* Anglo-Saxon literature (possibly Beowulf?) appears in Looking Glass - 'Jabberwocky' is a parody of the Beowulfian sort of epic, with the hero slaying the monster and lots of untranslated words
* The March Hare and Mad Hatter reappear as 'Anglo-Saxons' Haigha and Hatta. Again, this is the sort of stuff that educated children would have been expected to know as a matter of course, along with Latin and Greek and art ('Laughing and Grief; reeling, writhing and fainting in coils')
* The White Knight's speech ('the name of the song is called...') parses out the fine but very important distinction between objects and names, which becomes a major issue in logic (and more so in computer programming):
The name of the song is called 'Haddocks' Eyes.'"
"Oh, that's the name of the song, is it?" Alice said, trying to feel interested.
"No, you don't understand," the Knight said, looking a little vexed. "That's what the name
is called. The name really is 'The Aged, Aged Man.'"
"Then I ought to have said 'That's what the song is called'?" Alice corrected herself.
"No you oughtn't: that's another thing. The song is called 'Ways and Means' but that's only
what it's called, you know!"
"Well, what is the song then?" said Alice, who was by this time completely bewildered.
"I was coming to that," the Knight said. "The song really is 'A-sitting On a Gate': and the
tune's my own invention."
Like Terry Pratchett (and Bram Stoker - see Dracula Blogged [typepad.com]), Alice really needs a decent annotated edition to explain the obvious cultural and scientific references, since it is densely packed with references which might now be misunderstood, and so many weird conspiracy theories have arisen around the books.
The classic example of Dodgson's geeky humour is from 'Four Riddles':
http://www.online-literature.com/carroll/2826/ [online-literature.com]
Yet what are all such gaieties to me
Whose thoughts are full of indices and surds?
x*x + 7x + 53 = 11/3
It doesn't just rhyme and form part of an overall story - it's an equation to be solved, which gives you a word, from which you can take the first and last letters and which give you a crossword/acrostic clue. Beat THAT for geek cred.
Re:Yeah Not Really (Score:3, Interesting)
And is their similar symbolism in "The Hunting of the Snark"? I am thinking specifically of the poem "Jabberwocky".....
Travelling knot theorem in text. If you take a piece of string, connect it to a piece of fishing line, connect that to a piece of rope, then make an overhand knot in the string and work the knot along until it reaches the rope, what, then is a "knot"?
Es Brillig war. Die schlichte Toven warten und wibbleten in Waben. Alle mumsige war die Borgegoven, und die Momeraths ausgraben.
Travelling knot becomes travelling meme.
There is a mathematical structure to the common meme, too. Think about it.
Re:Yeah Not Really (Score:2, Interesting)
It certainly is NOT a troll to mention paedophilia with regard to Lewis Carroll. There's a subsection about his purported paedophilia in his Wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Carroll#Suggestions_of_paedophilia [wikipedia.org]
Moreover, most of his 20th century biographers have at least hinted at the possibility, and many discussed it outright--any biography of the man would be sorely incomplete without mentioning that the theory of Carroll as repressed paedophile permeated much 20th century analysis of the man and his work. The fact that one of his major hobbies was photographing nude female children (including Alice Liddell), and another was spending hours regaling female children with stories, together with his complete lack of a known sexual or romantic life with any adults, an unexplained sudden break with Alice Liddell's family for reasons unknown, and the destruction of some of his photos and papers, certainly all play into that notion.
That isn't to say that it's true, and recent scholarship vigorously debates the claim that Carroll was a paedophile. However, it's safe to say that the traditional scholarly conception of Lewis Carroll is as a celibate paedophile, while newer scholarship challenges this older presumption. For example, his photography of nude girl children and extensive time spent in their company can be explained by odd Victorian cultural fascinations that aren't necessarily sexual--the innocence of childhood and nudity as an expression of innocence (before the Biblical fall) were common Victorian memes which often came together. The missing papers are still missing and could have confirmed or refuted paedophilia as a factor in the break with Alice's family, but a document penned by his family found in 1996 suggests they removed or destroyed the papers because their content suggested an affair with a governess or adult member of the Liddell family. Unless they're found, we'll never know for sure whether Carroll was romantically interested in adult Liddell women or 11-year-old Alice; scholars will continue to debate, and the theory that Carroll was a paedophile will remain viable (although I think it's safe to say that scholarship since the 1996 discovery is largely contrarian toward the traditional "paedophile camp").
It was to amuse little children (Score:3, Interesting)
Dodgson also carefully distinguished his writings on mathematics and his children's books, hence the assumed name. After meeting Queen Victoria, and mistakenly assuming he was being honoured for his work in mathematics, he sent her a copy of his next book - "A treatise on Fluxions" - which must have baffled the Palace. It is very clear indeed that he did not regard the Alice books as aimed at adults.
The fact that he joked about things the Victorians took seriously - including taking the piss out of "moral" writing for children - was because he wanted to protect them from being treated as moral adults. But he was writing for children - so the idea was that they would see the funny side of the stuff adults were trying to impose on them. When he wanted to do that kind of thing for adults he wrote a serious essay or a sermon. As part of the Victorian Establishment, he knew how careful he had to be in employing ridicule.