(Originally posted at http://joelnoche.multiply.com/journal/item/8/Alice-in-Wonderland-and-Mathematics on March 25, 2010 9:18 AM)
Many people have tried to more fully explain details in Alice in Wonderland (and Through the Looking Glass), most notably Martin Gardner. There are many hidden references to what was happening during the time the books were written: spoofs of popular songs, how languages and dances were taught, comments on society and politics, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson’s feelings for Alice Pleasance Liddell, and so on.
It now seems that Lewis Carroll has also hidden some references to how he felt about the mathematical advances being made during that time. Helena Pycior (in 1984) and Melanie Bayley (in 2009) have found in Alice what they think are references to Victorian mathematics. Read more about it here.