By: Edwin A. Abbott Publisher: BiblioLife Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 128 Publication Date: August 18, 2008 Studio: BiblioLife
Amazon.com Review: 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.
Product Description: 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.' (Excerpt from Section 1)
This Book Will Change Your Outlook ^ I heard about this book in a chemistry course I took in college I think it was. Several years later I had the chance to read it. I am very glad that I did.
Not only does this book give a reader a new perspective in looking at space and maybe even time, but might also be extended to give a new perspective on almost anything. It may show us that at least in many cases, it is how you look at something that can determine what you see.
In any case, the book helps readers get an intuitive idea of what 4 (or maybe more as well) spacial dimensions mean. That is not as easy a thing as you might think. Give it a try before you read the book and see. I think that I got at least a glimpse as I neared the end of the book.
The author used a method of showing how worlds with fewer than three spacial dimensions might operate, and how a higher dimension being would be perceived by them and vice versa. This concept was used in many respects in Rucker's more recent book SPACELAND - also worth a read if the subject interests you.
I have read that Flatland was also originally meant to provide some social commentary, but this may be in large part lost on us today as times have changed I guess. Or maybe not?
The book is short and not that mathematically challenging if at all. Give it a try and I promise you will learn something.
No figures for Kindle Edition ^ The Kindle Edition does not include figures - the comment from Amazon support on this was:
"Occasionally, conversion to digital requires modification of content, layout, or format, including the omission of some images and tables."
Horrible formatting ^ Don't buy this version, there are plenty of others, including free downloads. The formatting of this book is broken such that there's a forced line break every other line, making the text annoying to read. Get one of the others that is properly formatted and don't waste your money on this one.
Thought-provoking on many levels ^ The classic "Flatland" covers many topics in surprisingly few pages. In fact, it's hard to say what the main point of the book is, if indeed there is just one. Mathematicians use the book to explain and explore the concepts of dimensionality from the perspective of a two-dimensional being; once we understand his world (in the first half of the book), we then learn how he perceives both lower- and higher-dimensional objects. There is some interesting social and political commentary along the way, clearly satirical of the class structure and gender roles of Victorian England, but still amazingly relevant today in the United States. The persecution of prophets is also a major point of the end of the story as the two-dimensional being tries to explain the three-dimensional world to others in his planar world; you can interpret this in a pro-religious sense (Jesus) or in an pro-science sense- another reviewer mentioned the trials and tribulations of Galileo Galilei. However you approach this classic story, there is definitely a lot to chew on.
For whatever reason I never was required to read "Flatland" in high school. In hindsight, this is probably a good thing because I probably wouldn't have appreciated the story as much as I do now. Some of my work as an engineer has me in six- and nine-dimensional space, and I can say that I understand the math a bit better after reading this story...and a few thought experiments, much like the main character in the story. I definitely recommend this book for a variety of audiences, but I don't know that using it in a high-school math class is a good idea- the prose is a little flowery and long-winded by today's standards, and without any prior knowledge of Victorian culture this book might be mistaken as misogynistic (see some of the other reviews).
A Classic Geometry Diversion ^ A must-read for all who appreciate geometry. Expect an older style of writing. Realize that it is not purely a mathematical book, but has a Victorian theme, too. Appreciate the geometry concepts in their historic context. Look at the original publication date of Flatland (not this edition), and imagine the author contemplating the fourth dimension back then. Put yourself in this frame of mind, most suitable for truly enjoying the concepts and details of this classic work. A must-read if you enjoy geometry. This thrift edition is a bargain, too.
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