What are the Mathematical concepts in Alice in Wonderland?

Answer 1

Well the author was a mathematician. He loved working with math. For example... in the book here is something... mathy.

For a more focused example, take the chapter "Advice from a caterpillar." Alice has fallen down the rabbit hole and eaten a cake that has shrunk her to a height of just 3 inches. The Caterpillar enters, smoking a hookah pipe, and shows Alice a mushroom that can restore her to her proper size. But one side of the mushroom stretches her neck, while another shrinks her torso, so she must eat exactly the right balance to regain her proper size and proportions. Bayley believes this expresses Dodgson's view of the absurdity of symbolic algebra.

The first clue, she says, may be the pipe. The word "hookah" is of Arabic origin, like "algebra". More to the point, the original Arabic term for algebra, widely known and used in the mathematical community in Dodgson's time, was al jebr e al mokabala or "restoration and reduction" - which exactly describes Alice's experience. Restoration was what brought Alice to the mushroom: she was looking for something to eat or drink to "grow to my right size again," and reduction was what actually happened when she ate some: she shrank so rapidly that her chin hit her foot.

Answer 2

The famous riddle in Alice in Wonderland is "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" which the Hatter asks Alice during the mad tea party.

Although attempts have been made to answer this riddle, it originally did not have an answer and Lewis Carroll never intended it to have one.

Answer 3

There are several mathematical ideas included in the Alice books. Wikipedia lists some examples. Follow the Related Link below to see them.