Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) Essay (Biography)

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson was born on 27 January 1832 in Daresbury, England. Apart from being a mathematician, he was also a very well known writer. He wrote under the name of “Lewis Carroll”. He was most popular among the children, since he used to write only for children. Charles Lutwidge was the eldest son in the family. He had two elder sisters, Fanny and Elizabeth. The family was not so well off, still they managed to survive and provide the basic amenities to their children.

Charles’ father was a vicar by profession. Charles was very much influenced by his father, since he grew up having a special inclination towards mathematics and then also reading religious books, since his family was strictly Catholic. He went to a boarding school where he went through one of the most difficult and unhappy phases of his life. He quoted- “During my stay I made I suppose some progress in learning of various kinds, but none of it was done with love, and I spent an incalculable time in writing out impositions – this last I consider one of the chief faults of Rugby School. I made some friends there… but I cannot say that I look back upon my life at a Public School with any sensations of pleasure, or that any earthly considerations would induce me to go through my three years again.” (M N Cohen, Lewis Carroll: A biography).

All this seemed to him as a personal disaster. He was a shy, sensitive boy and was often bullied by other boys in his school. He also had a stammering problem. During that time, his mother passed away, which added to the agonies of his life. Despite all this, Charles received various prizes for his outstanding performance in academics. Among all this, mathematics was his favorite field. He greatly excelled in it.

In 1852, Dodgson received a third class degree in classics but he topped mathematics. He also taught at Christ Church College until 1881. Charles’ favorite hobby was photography. He had developed a strong liking to it and had also excelled in it too. Apart from all this, he had a great affection towards small children. He liked spending time with them and photographing them. He picked this hobby from his uncle Skeffington Lutwidge, and later his friend from the Oxford University Reginald Southey.

In the year 1865, Dodgson published his first storybook for children titled- Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The author Henry Kingsley encouraged Dodgson to publish his stories, after which Dodgson did so. In 1872, he further published another book for children titled- “Through the Looking Glass”. This was just what he wrote as a hobby and specially for the children. Besides that, Charles published a large variety of books of mathematics. In 1860 he published- “A Syllabus of Plane Algebraical Geometry”.

In the same year he published “Two Books of Euclid”. In 1861, he wrote “The Formulae of Plane Trigonometry”. Further in 1866- Condensation of Determinants. 1867- Elementary Treatise on Determinants (1867), Examples in Arithmetic (1874), Euclid and his modern rivals (1879), Curiosa Mathematica, Part I: A New Theory of Parallels (1888), and Curiosa Mathematica, Part II: Pillow Problems thought out during Sleepless Nights (1893) (J J O’Connor and E F Robertson, “Charles L. Dodgson”, 2002).

The only book, which was of some historical importance, was “Euclid and his modern rivals (1879). The rest of them were not of much importance. He also published “The Game of Logic” in 1887 and “Symbolic Logic Part I” in 1896. Also, Dodgson made the first use of ‘truth tables’ for some logic problems in the year 1894. By 1896 Dodgson had developed the method of trees for determining some validity, which bears a resemblance to the trees frequently employed by contemporary logicians (W.W Bartley, III, Lewis Carroll’s lost book on logic, Sci. Amer. 227 (1) (1972), 39-46.).

He also contributed a lot in the theory of elections. He wrote the “Parliamentary Elections” and “The Principle of Parliamentary Representations” in 1884. Dodgson’s work present a complete and unified approach to the electoral reform issues which were being discussed at the time, but in doing so he developed and contributed ideas to game theory and apportionment which are well in advance of the 1880s.

(F Abeles, Determinants and linear systems: Charles L Dodgson’s view, British J. Hist. Sci. 19 (63/3) (1986)).

He was a multitalented person. The proof is that he was also very much inclined towards puzzles. He also wrote a book on puzzles. Also, he used some words from his nonsense poems that had been used for the first time in the English language. For example, the word “chortle” is a combination of the words ‘snort’ and ‘chuckle’. This word appeared for the first time in his work “Jabberwocky”.

In 1876 he published “The Hunting of the Snark” and was quoted as being “one of the longest and best sustained nonsense poem in the English language” (J J O’Connor and E F Robertson, “Charles L. Dodgson”, 2002).

Dodgson also invented the ‘Wonderland Postage Stamp Case’ in 1889. It had 12 slots for various purposes like inserting the 1-dollar stamp and the rest for the denominations that were in use at that period. He also invented a writing tablet that could be used for writing in the dark. It was called a Nyctograph. He also invented a previous version of what we today know as scrabble.

One of the most striking inventions made by Dodgson was the ‘Key-Vowel Cipher’. He explained and mentioned about this invention in his diary entry of 23 February 1858. He had also invented one more cipher but it has not been mentioned in his diary entry.

He died on 14 January 1898 at Guildford, due to pneumonia followed by influenza. This marked the end of the very talented and versatile Charles L. Dodgson. He is buried in Guildford at the Mount Cemetery (Cohen, Morton Lewis Carroll, A Biography). His contribution in the various fields of writing, mathematics, election, cipher, photography, etc., has been appreciated and admired world over, also by his contemporaries.

Outline

Who was Charles L. Dodgson?

Charles L. Dodgson was a Mathematician by profession. He was also a writer of children’s books like “Alice in Wonderland” and the like. He was also inclined towards photography, election, etc.

Alice in Wonderland-

Charles L. Dodgson was a writer of children’s books. He wrote Alice in Wonderland and “Through the Looking Glass”.

The Mathematician-

In 1860 he published- “A Syllabus of Plane Algebraical Geometry”. In the same year he published “Two Books of Euclid”. In 1861, he wrote “The Formulae of Plane Trigonometry”. Further in 1866- Condensation of Determinants. 1867- Elementary Treatise on Determinants (1867), Examples in Arithmetic (1874), Euclid and his modern rivals (1879), Curiosa Mathematica, Part I: A New Theory of Parallels (1888), and Curiosa Mathematica, Part II: Pillow Problems thought out during Sleepless Nights (1893)

The Puzzle Maker

He also wrote a book on puzzles. He was very much inclined towards puzzles.

Conclusion

It can be concluded that Charles Dodgson was a multi-talented personality. His contribution in the various fields of writing, mathematics, election, cipher, photography, etc., has been appreciated and admired world over, also by his contemporaries.

Works Cited Page

F Abeles, Determinants and linear systems: Charles L Dodgson’s view, British J. Hist. Sci.1986. Web.

J. J. O’Connor and E F Robertson. Charles L. Dodgson. 2002.

M. N. Cohen. Lewis Carroll: A biography. London, 1995.

W. W. Bartley, III, Lewis Carroll’s lost book on logic, Sci. Amer. 1972.