Euclid and his modern rivals
From the Oxford don who created Alice in Wonderland comes a fanciful play that takes a hard look at late-nineteenth-century interpretations of Euclidean geometry. "Euclid and His Modern Rivals" takes place in Hell, where the Infernal Judges are examining and passing judgment on contemporary theories of geometry. Books that reject Euclid's treatment of parallels receive first consideration (infinite series, angles made by transversals, equidistances, revolving lines, "directions," infinitesimals), followed by books that adopt Euclid's treatment, and ultimately, Euclid's own works. Mathematicians will find many penetrating observations on geometry and its texts; others can skip the technical sections and still be rewarded with an ample feast of the author's celebrated wit. 1885 ed
Trivia and miscellanea
xxxi, 275 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.
9780486495668, 0486495663
54373197
"An unabridged and unaltered republication of the 1973 Dover edition which reprinted the second edition published by Macmillan and Co., London, in 1855 [i.e. 1885]"--Title page verso