- Paperback: 160 pages
- Publisher: Signet Classics; Reissue edition (Jan 1 1981)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0451522907
- ISBN-13: 978-0451522900
- Product Dimensions: 17 x 10.4 x 1.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 91 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,523,908 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
One of the most imaginative, delightful and, yes, touching works of mathematics, this slender 1884 book purports to be the memoir of A. Square, a citizen of an entirely two-dimensional world. The Washington Post Book World Flatland has remained of interest for over a century precisely because of its ability to engage its readers on so many different planes in so many different dimensions. Victorian Studies
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Book Description
A satiric look at another planet which gives us a fresh look at our own.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
I call our world Flatland, not because we call it so, but to make its nature clearer to you, my happy readers, who are privileged to live in Space. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
I call our world Flatland, not because we call it so, but to make its nature clearer to you, my happy readers, who are privileged to live in Space. Read the first page
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Concordance
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Intriuging, interesting, and maybe a little too short.,
By A Customer
Ce commentaire est de: Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions (Paperback)
This book is a good read because it's interesting, makes you think, and it's short.The story is pretty obviously divided into two sections: One which describes a two-dimensional land and its inhabitants, one which describes how these characters react to the realization of a three-dimensional land like our own. The entire book satirically illustrates many social/cultural themes under the pretext of describing this two-dimensional civilization. The book does an good job of detailing how the characters live and thrive in their two-dimensional world, as well as contrasting how many objects and actions which we take for granted in our world are not feasible in theirs. Also, the author does a good job of making the reader think about how we perceive our world, as well as how we would see (or not see, as it were) a mythical 4D world. Drawing parallels between how we think about a 4D world and how the main characters think about a 3D world, I think, helps to further enjoyment and understanding of the book. I usually like short books -- I can get through them, feel like I have accomplished something, and move on to another book. However, I feel this book was a little too short. Just when I was really getting involved, the book ended. I think it could have been taken so many more directions (or dimensions.. ha ha). Nonetheless, I would recommend this book for anyone who likes to think casually about how we perceive (visually and physically) our universe. Even if you don't like to do that, it's kind of a fun story and a good satire. :)
5.0 out of 5 stars
classic,
By A Customer
Ce commentaire est de: Flatland (Paperback)
This is also available in a Dover Thrift edition, but you can never go wrong with these little pocket books. This puts one in a geometric frame of mind that will make more advanced works on this subject, such as those by Hinton or Ouspensky, more accessible to those without either the visulazation or mathematical abilty to go straight to the deeper stuff.
4.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful book containing hitherto unexpected insights,
By
Ce commentaire est de: Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions (Paperback)
The justly famous Flatland by Abbott stands out for several reasons1. Its old Victorian style writing which is written from the somewhat "distant observer" viewpoint with the accompanying Englishness to go with it. It is full of social mores of the time (1884) such as the role of women in society or the very specific roles of the "lower classes" and those of the higher levels of society. Included also in this is the social graces themselves where his "feeling" inserted into the book as a means of differentiating various shapes is really a metaphor for the almost repugnant consequences of a meeting between a peasant and a member of the Aristocracy. As such the book is a superb example of he Victorian Age. 2. Another aspect, maybe not so much mentioned, is the fact that the book presents a fine example of the fact that people are trapped by their own culture/upbringing, this time dealt with through the idea of a 2 dimensional being not being able to comprehend 3 dimensions. Apart from the fact that the mind is not able to get around the concept of dimensions higher than the usual 3 I believe the book was intended maybe even accidently to support the idea of a prison of your own culture. However Abbott goes on to show that people are infinitely adaptable and there are ways to meet these seemingly insurmountable challenges. Again a path breaking book when looked at from this angle, who before Abbott would have considered such a view. 3. Finally the book presents many wonderful examples of the illumination of strange concepts not even considered in ordinary life through the vessel of the trek of the square who attempts to grasp his new world with the aid of a sphere. A wonderful little book containing hitherto unexpected insights.
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