Flatland

by Edwin Abbott

Overview

The book that influenced writers from Carl Sagan to Stephen Hawking, Flatland is set in a two-dimensional world where life exists only in lines and shapes - until one of its inhabitants, 'A. Square', has his perspective transformed forever. This brilliantly eccentric classic is an invitation to see beyond our own reality.

'At once a playful brainteaser about geometry, a pointed satire of Victorian manners - and a strangely compelling argument about the greatest mysteries of the Universe' Wall Street Journal

'Flatland could lead to very profound thought about our Universe and ourselves' Isaac Asimov

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780141992891
Publisher:	Penguin UK
Publication date:	08/06/2020
Series:	Penguin Science Fiction
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	144
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Edwin A. Abbott (1838 - 1926) was a leading scholar of the Victorian period. A schoolmaster from the age of 26, Abbott oversaw the education of many luminaries of the Edwardian era and beyond, including Prime Minister H. H. Asquith. In his retirement, Abbott devoted himself to writing theological discussions and biographies. In 1884, he wrote Flatland, a highly original work of satirical science-fiction that is now considered a canonical example of the genre.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Edwin Abbott Abbott: A Brief Chronology
A Note on the Text

Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions

Appendix A: Contemporary Reviews

1. The Oxford Magazine (5 November 1884)
2. From The Literary World (14 November 1884)
3. The Exchange with The Athenaeum (November-December 1884)
4. The Architect (15 November 1884)
5. R.Tucker, Nature (27 November 1884)
6. New York Times (23 February 1885)
7. From the New York Tribune (6 March 1885)
8. Advertisement Run by Robert Brothers Publishers in The Literary World (21 March 1885)

Appendix B: Sources and Influences

1. From Benjamin Jowett’s Translation of Plato’s Republic (1871)
2. From Hermann von Helmholtz, “The Axioms of Geometry” (1870)
3. From Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov (1879-80)
4. From C.H. Hinton, “What is the Fourth Dimension?” (1884)

Appendix C: Other Works by Abbott

1. From The Kernel and the Husk (1886)
2. From The Spirit on the Water:The Evolution of the Divine From the Human (1897)

Appendix D: The Influence of Flatland

1. From A.T. Schofield, Another World (1905)
2. From C.H. Hinton, The Fourth Dimension (1904)
3. From C.H. Hinton, An Episode of Flatland: or How a Plane Folk Discovered the Third Dimension (1907)

Appendix E: Mathematical Background

1. Macmillan’s Catalog of Geometry Textbooks (1884)
2. From Euclid’s Elements
3. The T.H. Huxley–J.J. Sylvester Debate (1869-77)

Works Cited and Recommended Reading

Editorial Reviews

Part mathematical exploration, part satire, and part fairy tale, Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin Abbot has been around for more than a century and remains a standard in mathematics education…The Broadview Edition of the book combines the text with a variety of notes and essays that enhance the reading and study of this classic.” — Bill Wood, The Mathematical Association of America

“Handing its reader the full range of Abbott’s cultural sources and pedagogical motives in one volume, Lila Marz Harper’s edition of Flatland is a welcome event. Her detailed introduction provides a comprehensive overview of Flatland’s intellectual landscape and a generous sampling of current critical discussion. The content of the appendices is well chosen; especially useful is the lengthy selection from Jowett’s translation of Plato’s allegory of the Cave. Placing Abbott’s perennial mathematical parable and curious social critique squarely into its Victorian contexts, Harper also traces Flatland’s deep philosophical roots and spiritual aspirations.” — Bruce Clarke, Texas Tech University

“Among the most enduring works of Victorian fiction, Flatland justly continues to attract both popular and scholarly attention. Lila Marz Harper’s richly annotated edition rewards readers by illuminating a variety of perspectives that can be profitably adopted when exploring Abbott’s imaginative worlds today. Her introduction effectively contextualizes Flatland as reflecting mathematical innovations, progressive hermeneutics, spiritualism, social institutions, and national identity in nineteenth-century England. The meticulously compiled appendices are invaluable for providing contemporaneous responses and intellectual alternatives to, as well as appropriations of, Abbott’s genre-defying work. Harper has made an outstanding, multidimensional contribution to Flatland scholarship.” — K. G. Valente, Colgate University

From the Publisher

"Among the most enduring works of Victorian fiction, Flatland justly continues to attract both popular and scholarly attention. Lila Marz Harper's richly annotated edition rewards readers by illuminating a variety of perspectives that can be profitably adopted when exploring Abbott's imaginative worlds today. Her introduction effectively contextualizes Flatland as reflecting mathematical innovations, progressive hermeneutics, spiritualism, social institutions, and national identity in nineteenth-century England. The meticulously compiled appendices are invaluable for providing contemporaneous responses and intellectual alternatives to, as well as appropriations of, Abbott's genre-defying work. Harper has made an outstanding, multidimensional contribution to Flatland scholarship."

K.G. Valente Colgate University

"Handing its reader the full range of Abbott's cultural sources and pedagogical motives in one volume, Lila Marz Harper's edition of Flatland is a welcome event. Her detailed introduction provides a comprehensive overview of Flatland's intellectual landscape and a generous sampling of current critical discussion. The content of the appendices is well chosen; especially useful is the lengthy selection from Jowett's translation of Plato's allegory of the Cave. Placing Abbott's perennial mathematical parable and curious social critique squarely into its Victorian contexts, Harper also traces Flatland's deep philosophical roots and spiritual aspirations."

Bruce Clarke Texas Tech University

"Part mathematical exploration, part satire, and part fairy tale, Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin Abbot has been around for more than a century and remains a standard in mathematics education...The Broadview Edition of the book combines the text with a variety of notes and essays that enhance the reading and study of this classic."

Bill Wood The Mathematical Association of America