Publisher's Synopsis
This is a story about the fourth dimension. Its events occur in a fictional world called Flatland. This novel was written in 1884 by the English schoolmaster Edwin Abbott. Writing pseudonymously as "a square", Abbott used the fictional two-dimensional world of Flatland to offer 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 novella, 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. The story is about a two-dimensional world referred to as Flatland which is occupied by geometric figures, line segments (females) and regular polygons with various numbers of sides. The narrator is a humble Square, a member of the social caste of gentlemen and professionals in a society of geometric figures, who guides us through some of the implications of life in two dimensions. Extensive speculations also abound about higher dimensions. It is a pleasure to publish this new, high quality, and affordable edition.
