Flatland: A Romance in Many Dimensions (Penguin Classics) - Softcover

Abbott, Edwin A.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 014043531X ISBN 13: 9780140435313

Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group, 1998

Synopsis

A 'romance of many dimensions' that has fascinated generations of readers with its clever blend of social satire and mathematical theory, the Penguin Classics edition of Edwin A. Abbott's Flatland introduction by Alan Lightman.

A work that continues to pose provocative questions about perception and reality, Flatland is a brilliant parody of Victorian society where all existence is limited to length and breadth - its inhabitants unable even to imagine a third dimension. The amiable narrator, A Square, provides an overview of this fantastic world - its physics and metaphysics, its history, customs and religious beliefs. But when a strange visitor mysteriously appears and transports the incredulous Flatlander to the Land of Three Dimensions, his world view is forever shattered.

Written more than a century ago, Flatland conceals within its brilliant parody of Victorian society speculations about the universe that resonate in Einstein's theory of relativity as well as the current 'string-theory' of nature.

Edwin A. Abbott (1838-1926) was a leading scholar and theologian of the Victorian era.

If you enjoyed Flatland you may like H.G. Wells's The Sleeper Awakes, also available in Penguin Classics.

About this title

Review

"At once a classic of science fiction, a playful brainteaser about geometry, a pointed satire of Victorian manners--and, finally, a strangely compelling argument about reason, faith, and the greatest mysteries of the universe." --The Wall Street Journal

From the Back Cover

What if there existed a world consisting of only two spatial dimensions? This mind-bending supposition is the jumping-off point for one of the literature's most celebrated oddities: the 1884 novella Flatland, one of the earliest instances of modern speculative fiction, and perhaps the only instance of mathematical satire.

In Flatland, a lowly square, whose polygonal betters exhibit more sides, discovers pathways to other worlds where, alas, thinking is as rigidly defined as in his own. Class structures, the position of women (who are but mere lines), and the stolidness of religious and political leaders are sent up with chilly aplomb.

Beloved by fans of science fiction, students of dimensional physics, and readers of Victorian literature, this belongs on the shelf of any serious home library.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 014043531X
• ISBN 13: 9780140435313
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 144