He authored quite a few books on mathematics, and he wasn't Greek despite possible appearances. Apart from this, he didn't even really exist. Who was he?

Midget40

I would say Lewis Carroll Charles Dodgson was a mathematics lecturer and author of mathematics books who is better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. Dodgson is known especially for Alice's adventures in wonderland (1865) and Through the looking glass (1872), children's books that are also distinguished as satire and as examples of verbal wit. http://www.mathsnet.net/resource/index.html#carroll Mar 29 09, 2:17 PM

gonnzo

Nicolas Bourbaki. "Nicolas Bourbaki is the collective pseudonym under which a group of (mainly French) 20th-century mathematicians wrote a series of books presenting an exposition of modern advanced mathematics, beginning in 1935." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Bourbaki Mar 29 09, 2:18 PM

Baloo55th

The original Bourbaki was a French general of Greek origins, and his surname was appropriated by a later group of mathematicians as gonnzo describes. Un grand OUI pour gonnzo, and commiserations for Midget - Lewis Carroll doesn't really appear Greek, does he? Mar 29 09, 3:57 PM

Midget40

Sorry Baloo - forgot to add the Greek reference. I thought you were referring to his writings following the Greek philosophers. 'Alice' is based on their philosophies. He was the 'English Greek philosopher' Carroll was no stranger to Greek philosophy, which was one of the subjects he studied as part of the Classics curriculum at Christ Church. It seems that he embraced Platonic Ideational thought by asseverating the existence of un-birthdays - un-birthdays are non-material beings. Footprints of this controversy, which was initially conceived by Greek philosophy, can be tracked all over the two books of Alice. These Include: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, Parmenides, Pythagoras and Heraclitus. http://www.the-philosopher.co.uk/alice.htm Mar 30 09, 4:13 AM