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Flatland: A Romance Of Many Dimensions |  | Author: Edwin A. Abbott
Publisher: CreateSpace
List Price: $8.39
Buy New: $7.20
as of 11/22/2009 05:37 CST details
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Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 536115
Media: Paperback
Pages: 98
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.4
ISBN: 1440417784
EAN: 9781440417788
ASIN: 1440417784
Publication Date: September 16, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
FLATLAND: A ROMANCE OF MANY DIMENSIONS is one of the great classic science fiction novels which continues to be as popular today as it ever was. As a satire, Flatland offered pointed observations on the social hierarchy of Victorian culture. However, the novel's more enduring contribution is its examination of dimensions; in a foreword to one of the many publications of the novel, noted science writer Isaac Asimov described Flatland as "The best introduction one can find into the manner of perceiving dimensions." As such, the novel is still popular amongst mathematics, physics and computer science students, as well as the average intelligent and thinking book reader. Several films have been made from the story, including a feature film in 2007 called simply Flatland. Other efforts have been short or experimental films, including one narrated by Dudley Moore and a short film with Martin Sheen titled Flatland: The Movie. And they are all based on this wonderfully imaginative book.
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| Customer Reviews:
 First Half Fairly Boring, Second Half Pretty Decent October 24, 2009
Deaf Zed
I decided to read this book because a.) I have an interest in science/math b.) a friend recommended it.
Overall, I was a bit disappointed. Abbot starts off explaining what Flatland is: a purely 2D environment inhabited by various kinds of regular polygons (and circles). Shortly after, Abbot discusses flatland politics and this is where the book loses interest. While some of this discussion is indeed necessary for understanding what happens at the end, some of it is downright frivolous and unnecessary. I have absolutely no idea why, for instance, he discussed the "color revolution" at all.
About halfway through, Abbott finally discusses the more interesting aspect of the book: what happens when a 2-D object enters a 1-D world? Or when a 3-D object enters a 2-D world? Or what both "thought experiments" imply for an (n+1)-D object entering an n-D object, where n is an arbitrary non-negative integer. Of course, the book was written before time was ultimately considered to be the 4th dimension, so the reader needs to keep this in mind when Abbott treats the 4th dimension as spatial.
My advice to anyone considering this book is to read the beginning 10 pages or so, skip to the 2nd part of the story if it gets too boring, then finish it from there. It's a shame that the beginning has to undermine an otherwise interesting and thoughtful story.
 a book with different dimensions to it January 11, 2009
Jeff Zella
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
This book is about Square, a mathematician who lives in two-dimensional Flatland. He is a very lawful citizen, and goes out of his way to explain to his grandchildren that there is no third dimension, even theoretically. But when he is visited by a sphere from Spaceland, he finds it hard to deny the reality of a third dimension. He is given further reason to consider this possibility when he is granted the rare chance to visit Lineland. He is baffled when the king and queen of that country refuse to acknowledge his existance, because they cannot, in their sphere of experience, imagine that there could be any dimension higher than the first. He is finally convinced when the Sphere allows him to visit Spaceland, where he is able to experience first-hand the third dimension - something he never thought was possible when he lived in Flatland. He then tries his best to convince the rest of the two-dimensional shapes that there's a third dimension, even though they can't see or imagine it. "
I love this book ever since school days. A classic of science (and mathematical) fiction!
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