A century-old classic of British letters that charmed and fascinated generations of readers with its witty satire of Victorian society and its unique insights, by analogy, into the fourth dimension.
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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.
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"The best introduction one can find into the manner of perceiving dimensions." -- --Isaac Asimov in the ForewordA
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111 of 116 people found the following review helpful
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If you are not familiar with Edwin Abbott's "Flatland", this is the edition to buy. If you are familiar with it (but presumably do not yet own it), this is still the edition to buy.
You've heard the classic criticism of a story is that it is "two dimensional". Well, Edwin Abbott's tale of an imaginary two-dimensional land adds a whole new twist to that phrase. Flatland, as he describes it, is about as rich as a two-dimensional story can be. And it is marvelously extended by its narrator's encounters with the unknown - the world of 3 dimensions. The challenges that narrator faces as he encounters the incomprehensible, quite closely mirror mine whenever I attempt to think about a 4th (or 5th or 7th) dimension. If you've faced the same struggle, you will be delighted by this book.
If you've ever wondered what a 4th dimension would look like, Flatland provides a lens through which you can imagine that extension of our 3D world. From here you can go on to read Rudy Rucker or Pickover or Hawkins - but this is the place to start your exploration of dimensions beyond experience. Abbot accomplishes this by describing the eye-opening extension of his narrator's 2D world when visited by a 3D apparition, a "sphere". His framing of the foundational issues through the experiences of what you'd expect to be the least interesting character in fiction are really quite engaging. The storyline, however sparse, is as interesting as the mathematics - albeit quite nineteenth-century'ish in tone.
Don't misconstrue Abbott's seemingly misogynist portrayal of women and of his class-stratified society. This element was intended to provide a third layer of sharp, Swiftian satire and critical commentary on the rigid social mores of his era.
... Read more ›6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
I am only 17 and I read both of these books and understood every word of it. Not to say that the things covered in these two books are easy to see or comprehend but the authors did such a beautiful job of making everything easy to understand from life in the 2nd dimention to slightly grasping the 4th dimention through mathmatics and to flipping 3 dimentional objects in the 4th dimention thus reversing them like turning a left shoe into a right shoe. Even if you are not interested in math or science these books let you see the world in another way and will stay with you provoking thought at every turn.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
This book introduced me to the amazingly interesting possibilaty of a fourth dimension, or even an infinite number of dimensions, and the way the material was presented (by a story of A Square and A Hexoagon and there adventures with a sphere) is delightfully entertaining. Since the human mind has such a horrid time visualizing the fourth dimension, taking it down one level by having creatures living in a two dimensional world who try to understand the third dimension is an excellent way to help people grasp the possibility of higher dimensions. I was also very interested in the books discussion about a curved space and an expanding universe. This book is great for any teenager interested in theoretic sciences and geometery and it is a great intellectual read.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Flatland and Sphereland are very well written books, but for entirely different reasons. Flatland is a fun story that takes you into the 2nd (and 1st, and 0th) dimensions to see what life is like there with its final goal to make you speculate on what the fourth dimension would be like. Flatland, the first book, excels at making you grasp the concepts and has a very good story to go along with it. The story seems to be the main focus, rather than the other aspects.
Sphereland is entirely the opposite. Sphereland deals with ideas such as the expanding universe theory others. This it explains even clearer then flatland did. But Sphereland's focus was not on the story, but rather on the theories that it tried to convey. This may be a good thing in some people's minds, but I enjoyed the story of flatland and didn't like it pushed aside to explain the theories. I also didn't like the fixing of flatland to make it less backwards (Besides giving equality to women) since flatland to me was backwards.
So If you want to learn complex Ideas simply and with fun, these are the books for you.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By "dingogold"
Many topics in modern physics and astronomy involve thinking of the universe in more than our customary three dimensions. Super-string theories, for instance, suggest as many as ten dimensions in our universe. Yet the general public is completely unfamiliar with this mode of thinking. Flatland and Sphereland are both stories with the perfect blend of simplicity and sophistication. Their simple, precise language is easy enough for even the casual reader to follow, yet the concepts presented are advanced enough that even experts in the field will be churning it around in their minds for days after. When I ordered these books, I expected an entertaining story that, while intriguing, would contribute little to my education in the long run. What I found, beneath the delightful tale, was a depth of concept that has changed my thinking.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
I am 17, and I thought that these books opened doors to a new way of thinking for me. It is very likely that anyone who didn't like these books simply did not understand them. Yes, the language was very wordy compared to modern literature, but no more difficult to understand than *Sherlock Homes* or Charles Dickens. I recomend this book to anyone who is scared of physics or simply wants too expand their mind.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
a longtime flatland fan
I have been a fan of flatland since I first read it as a schoolgirl. This time, I was buying them as a gift because this is a great book to give someone else becoming old enough to... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Pj Dupuis
5.0 out of 5 stars
Written for all Flatlanders...like us
This book is a must have for all bonafide Flatlands fans.
First off, it has the original Flatlands classic by Edwin Abbott Abbott, the mathematician/clergyman would... Read more
First off, it has the original Flatlands classic by Edwin Abbott Abbott, the mathematician/clergyman would... Read more
Published on December 1, 2008 by Steve Reina
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent book!
Incredibly easy and direct way to give a new perspective into a 1D, 2D and 3D "space"!
Flatland is written in 1800's English, so it might be a little bit tricky to get... Read more
Flatland is written in 1800's English, so it might be a little bit tricky to get... Read more
Published on October 2, 2008 by Juan P. Gonzalez
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Limits of Perception
My appreciation of mathematics came late in life, but it finally came. I have neither the aptitude nor the training to be a professional mathematician, but I like to spend a fair... Read more
Published on April 10, 2008 by Paul Camp
5.0 out of 5 stars
ahead of its time
This is a must read for anyone. Its written simply for anyone to understand yet the underlying principles can inspire thought and contemplation on the ideas of relativity and... Read more
Published on January 7, 2003 by Jexii
4.0 out of 5 stars
Yea....
This was a good morsel in the midst of my newest interests...chaos, quantum mechanics, sacred geometry, etc...if you enjoy numbers and thinking hard - it is a good read. Read more
Published on September 4, 2001 by Cheryl A. Kozicky
3.0 out of 5 stars
One-dimensional characters in a two-dimensional world
Abbott's math fantasy Flatland is more than 120 years old, and that alone makes it an interesting reading for people interested in geometry. Read more
Published on August 7, 2001 by Pascal Thiel
4.0 out of 5 stars
MANY-VIEWS-LAND
Most reader-reviewers were equally amazed on first reading Abbott's Flatland. But the point of the book is lost within all the excited verbiage. Read more
Published on August 7, 2001 by Worldreels
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Introduction to Other Dimensions
Flatland is an excellent pseudo-fiction written to enlighten the reader as to the interactions between the dimensions. Read more
Published on December 5, 2000 by Fred
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fabulous tale of high adventure in another universe
Flatland is one of my favorite books of all time. It's one of those stories I've been searching for all my life... A tale of multiple dimensions, written with captivating style. Read more
Published on July 17, 1999
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