“Shutting up like a telescope”: Lewis Carroll's “Curious” Condensation Method for Evaluating Determinants

Abstract

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsAdrian RiceAdrian Rice (arice4@rmc.edu) received a B.Sc. in mathematics from University College London in 1992 and a Ph.D. in the history of mathematics from Middlesex University in 1997 for a dissertation on Augustus De Morgan. He is currently an associate professor of mathematics at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia, where his research focuses on 19th- and early 20th-century British mathematics. His recent publications include Mathematics Unbound: The Evolution of an International Mathematical Research Community, 1800–1945, edited with Karen Hunger Parshall, and The London Mathematical Society Book of Presidents, 1865–1965, written with Susan Oakes and Alan Pears.Eve TorrenceEve Torrence (etorrenc@rmc.edu) received her Ph.D. in 1991 from the University of Virginia. She was a Clare Boothe Luce professor at Trinity College in Washington, D.C. from 1991 to 1994 and is currently an associate professor at Randolph-Macon College. She is the chair of the Maryland-District of Columbia-Virginia Section of the MAA and a member of the Pi Mu Epsilon Council. She and her husband Bruce are the co-authors of The Student's Introduction to Mathematica, A Handbook for Precalculus, Calculus, and Linear Algebra. Her areas of interest include geometry, origami, and mathematics education. She also enjoys gardening, horse riding, and playing with her children and her Australian shepherd puppy.