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Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions (Dover Thrift Editions) |  | Author: Edwin A. Abbott
Publisher: Dover Publications
List Price: $2.00
Buy Used: $0.01
as of 11/21/2009 23:04 CST details
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Seller: Blue_Cloud_Books
Rating:  168 reviews
Sales Rank: 10535
Media: Paperback
Edition: Unabridged
Pages: 96
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.1 x 0.4
ISBN: 048627263X
Dewey Decimal Number: 530.11
EAN: 9780486272634
ASIN: 048627263X
Publication Date: September 21, 1992
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
Unless you're a mathematician, the chances of you reading any novels about geometry are probably slender. But if you read only two in your life, these are the ones. Taken together, they form a couple of accessible and charming explanations of geometry and physics for the curious non-mathematician. Flatland, which is also available under separate cover, was published in 1880 and imagines a two-dimensional world inhabited by sentient geometric shapes who think their planar world is all there is. But one Flatlander, a Square, discovers the existence of a third dimension and the limits of his world's assumptions about reality and comes to understand the confusing problem of higher dimensions. The book is also quite a funny satire on society and class distinctions of Victorian England. The further mathematical fantasy, Sphereland, published 60 years later, revisits the world of Flatland in time to explore the mind-bending theories created by Albert Einstein, whose work so completely altered the scientific understanding of space, time, and matter. Among Einstein's many challenges to common sense were the ideas of curved space, an expanding universe and the fact that light does not travel in a straight line. Without use of the mathematical formulae that bar most non-scientists from an understanding of Einstein's theories, Sphereland gives lay readers ways to start comprehending these confusing but fundamental questions of our reality.
Product Description
Classic of science (and mathematical) fiction—charmingly illustrated by author—describes the journeys of A. Square, a resident of Flatland, and his adventures in Spaceland (three dimensions), Lineland (one dimension) and Pointland (no dimensions). A Square also entertains thoughts of visiting a land of four dimensions—a revolutionary idea for which he is banished from Spaceland.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 168
 Thought-provoking on many levels September 10, 2009
Lance C. Hibbeler (Urbana, IL, USA)
The classic "Flatland" covers many topics in surprisingly few pages. In fact, it's hard to say what the main point of the book is, if indeed there is just one. Mathematicians use the book to explain and explore the concepts of dimensionality from the perspective of a two-dimensional being; once we understand his world (in the first half of the book), we then learn how he perceives both lower- and higher-dimensional objects. There is some interesting social and political commentary along the way, clearly satirical of the class structure and gender roles of Victorian England, but still amazingly relevant today in the United States. The persecution of prophets is also a major point of the end of the story as the two-dimensional being tries to explain the three-dimensional world to others in his planar world; you can interpret this in a pro-religious sense (Jesus) or in an pro-science sense- another reviewer mentioned the trials and tribulations of Galileo Galilei. However you approach this classic story, there is definitely a lot to chew on.
For whatever reason I never was required to read "Flatland" in high school. In hindsight, this is probably a good thing because I probably wouldn't have appreciated the story as much as I do now. Some of my work as an engineer has me in six- and nine-dimensional space, and I can say that I understand the math a bit better after reading this story...and a few thought experiments, much like the main character in the story. I definitely recommend this book for a variety of audiences, but I don't know that using it in a high-school math class is a good idea- the prose is a little flowery and long-winded by today's standards, and without any prior knowledge of Victorian culture this book might be mistaken as misogynistic (see some of the other reviews).
A Classic Geometry Diversion July 24, 2009
Archimedes (NY)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
A must-read for all who appreciate geometry. Expect an older style of writing. Realize that it is not purely a mathematical book, but has a Victorian theme, too. Appreciate the geometry concepts in their historic context. Look at the original publication date of Flatland (not this edition), and imagine the author contemplating the fourth dimension back then. Put yourself in this frame of mind, most suitable for truly enjoying the concepts and details of this classic work. A must-read if you enjoy geometry. This thrift edition is a bargain, too.
Enlargement of the Imagination, Indeed!! Great for any age. June 17, 2009
C. M. Peterson (Okaloosa Island USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Read aloud, Abbotts' Shakespearean flare rings out with lovely sounds as wonderful to ears of a toddler at bedtime as it is to an adult with spirited imagination or any rebel who enjoys the venting of 'dangerous utterances'. An enchanting read at any age. I recommend it for younger readers so that they may have many years to re-read and grow with it.
If you find a modern-day difficultly with Abbott's gender inequality (a clear challenge to some animators),consider that orthogonal planes do indeed look like lines to each other. "When ... flat human is turned on his side, his personality is hidden inside the plane ... indistinguishable from others. Another human then turned to her side orthogonal to the first would then appear just a line. We...turn to adornment to reveal a contrived identity, whether true or deceitful. Instead, if we were to expand the dimensionality of our perception we could see inside both the male and female planes. " (Peterson, Flatland Point: The DRUM & DRAW Navigations, 2009)
 This Edition is Garbage on the Kindle May 10, 2009
Hilbert (Pennsylvania)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This edition is terrible on the Kindle. There's all sorts of extra line breaks that make it difficult to read. There's also no table of contents. Buy the MobiPocket version for the same price. It's a much better format
flatland vs spaceland May 9, 2009
Jay E. Schwantes (Calif.)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Reading reviews on this little gem of a novelette I have owned for over 33 years now, I see most have completely missed the point. Square states this clearly: "inspired people are always considered by the majority to be mad". Although Abbott's little book has been embraced by generations, used as a guide to kiddy schoolers in understanding geometry, its message runs much deeper. It is an illustration of mankind's effect on innovators who disclose knowledge at the cosmological level. It is the story that parallels all those who became a majority of one, all those who have seen further than others, to all who examine a pretty shell at the beach and realize there is a sea of knowledge before them, to all who have dared to step outside the box. Those are the innovators who have stepped out of flatland into spaceland and were subsequently denounced and ridiculed. Galileo, who expanded the universe a thousand fold, was put into house arrest by the inquisition...those priests refusing to "look through his tube" (a telescope). We pay the Edison company for a Nikola Tesla product (the inventor of alternating current). Tesla died almost forgotten and penniless. When demonstrating the first electro-magnetic device, Faraday was asked what good is it? His response, "I don't know...what good is a newborn baby? Someday they will learn how to tax it". The history and drama of the discoverer is the story of "square", his newly acquired cosmological knowledge through meeting "sphere", and what happened when he tried to disclose it to flatlanders. "Square" was a spacelander in a world of flatlanders.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 168
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