Euclid and His Modern Rivals

by Lewis Carroll, Amit Hagar (Introduction)

British maverick Lewis Carroll successfully combines his inimitable sense of humor with his transparent logical reasoning in one of the most interesting books ever written about mathematical pedagogy, "Euclid and His Modern Rivals". Required reading not only for experts in mathematical curriculum development but also for all of Carroll's admirers, this book is expertly written with razor-sharp wit. It is hard to find a funnier or more enjoyable book on such a subject that is commonly regarded as academic and far removed from everyday life; no one but the author of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" could rise to this kind of challenge and walk away triumphant.

Genres: Mathematics, Nonfiction, Education, Science

275 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

The Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known by the pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican clergyman and photographer.

His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass as well as the poems "The Hunting of the Snark" and "Jabberwocky", all considered to be within the genre of literary nonsense.

Oxford scholar, Church of England Deacon, University Lecturer in Mathematics and Logic, academic author of learned theses, gifted pioneer of portrait photography, colourful writer of imaginative genius and yet a shy and pedantic man, Lewis Carroll stands pre-eminent in the pantheon of inventive literary geniuses.

He also has works published under his real name.

Reviews

[Valerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a huge math nerd, and even I thought this book was boring beyond belief. I plan on subjecting my Geometry class to parts of it.

[Becky Carlan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Carroll, the math teacher of great imagination has written a play containing early Greek kings petitioned by “modern” mathematicians that their treatment of Geometry is more complete than Euclid. An imaginative apologetic for Euclid, made less enjoyable by the fact I don’t know enough about Euclid and even less about Geometry. Something good to return to later!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Witty and cutting, a great read if you want to do a deeper dive into Carroll, or if you're interested in education theory or the history of mathematics instruction. Not a light book, and the witty amusing sections are equal to the math-heavy bits.

[Jake Cooper · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a cute dialogue championing Euclid's Elements -- and specifically his parallel postulate -- over then-contemporary alternative treatments. Anachronistic and dryly rigorous for 21st century pleasure reading.