Flatland
Edwin Abbott Abbott's satirical 1884 novella Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions, is "on the surface" an examination of multiple dimensions. Its author, writing anonymously as "A Square" takes us on a fantastical trip to a completely flat, two-dimensional world whose inhabitants are geometric shapes. These shapes think that the "planar" world of length and width are all that exist, until one shape discovers the existence of a third physical dimension, which ultimately is expanded to the concept of a fourth. As a given shape, one's class and intelligence is determined by one's number of sides. Men are depicted as polygonal, while women are straight lines (now hang on a minute!)….
Flatland illustrates marvelously the difficulty a person or group might have seeing a greater reality, or different reality, than its own. In this world of "plane geometry" with "Euclidian Geometric" shapes, each dimension can only perceive the one below it - so if one has evidence of a third, what about a fourth? Flatland has so many dimensions to it - mathematical, philosophical, social, religious - that it's hard to believe it's only 82 pages. But don't let size fool you: to grasp every element of the book will take a close reading. A brilliant exploration of higher dimensions while satirizing the social hierarchy of the Victorian caste system.
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Ravin Maclean
April 04, 2013
I think this book is great. The author is very smart. Now this isnt a book that everybody would read but i think everybody should at least read this once in there lifetime
Amareese Tolibas
December 28, 2012
hi
Nathan Goedeke
August 21, 2012
Wonderful book, so glad its digital now! Definetly surrpasses The Time Machine in describing dimensions great and small. Also leaves us thinking philosophicaly: are there worlds and beings that we cant experiance or explain? Are we all like the point, thinking we are god when actually we are nothing? Remember, Edwin Abbott was an ordained reverend as well as a mathmatician, which is probably why the book makes reference to the Gospel of Three Dimensions, and skeptics that become fanatical persecuters.
Син Макинтир
July 17, 2012
A romantic peak into the idea of opening your mind, Flatland takes you to a different, 'lesser' world and boggles your mind with the supposition of dimensions both higher and lower than our own. If you can forgive Abbot's style -a standard way of writing back then-, you will find yourself enthralled with the ideas he puts before you. 4/5, a short quick read, but still full of great ideas~
John Luckie
April 08, 2012
Hard work but fun.
DM Parker
February 21, 2012
No one explains multi-dimensionality better, more easily or with more of a sense of fun (plus a plot) than Edwin Abbot Abbot. A fun, fascinating, easy read.
Alex Martin
January 06, 2012
Much as Flatland tackles our understanding of dimensions, it is in itself multidimensional. In the social attitudes of Flatlanders we may recognise a commentary on the attitudes of the author's day, and some which persist to the present. On another level, Flatland asks us to consider ideas beyond our experience and understanding. This novel may well be a brilliant way to introduce a novice to thinking about higher dimensions and its conclusions are applicable to not only to philosophical questions but also the deepest mysteries of the universe, tackled by scientists and armchair enthusiasts alike. If anything, Flatland will lead you to consider just how you would react, should some higher-dimensional truth be revealed to you. If you are enthused by the possibility of... more, then this book is for you. X, Y, Z...?
Warwick Allison
December 07, 2011
Leads the reader through a learning experience that almost seems too familiar due to the dating of the story.
Noah Smith
November 13, 2011
I hope you like math and can understand multidimensional travel.