Non-Euclidean geometry caused a re-examination of the teaching of geometry based on Euclid's Elements. This curriculum issue was hotly debated at the time and was even the subject of a book, "Euclid and his Modern Rivals", written by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832–1898) better known as Lewis Carroll, the author of "Alice in Wonderland". In analytic geometry a plane is described with Cartesian coordinates : "C" = { ("x,y") : "x", "y" ∈ ℝ }. The points are sometimes identified with complex numbers where ε ∈ { –1, 0, 1}. The Euclidean plane corresponds to the case since the modulus of is given
Edwin Dodgson Christian name is a tribute to Canon George Heron, a Cheshire friend of Archdeacon Dodgson. Edwin's mother died when he was four years old and he was raised by his maiden aunt Lucy Lutwidge. He was educated at Twyford and in 1860 he went to Rugby, where the Headmaster was Frederick Temple, who later became the Archbishop of Canterbury. He worked briefly for the Board of Trade before entering Chichester Theological College in September 1871. The college was Anglo-Catholic, a tradition which Edwin held dear, to the chagrin of his elder brother Charles. He was ordained deacon in 1873, and