Alice, Dodgson, and Algebra

There was the oddest op-ed piece in yesterday's New York Times,  "Algebra in Wonderland" by Melanie Bayley.  She feels that Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll), who was a math tutor at Oxford's Christ Church College was with his famous story creating, "…a mishmash of satire directed at the advances taking place in Dodgson's field."  Having read the book perhaps 4o times (since 1990 I've read it aloud every year to my class) I know it incredibly well. I've also read a lot about what could...