This print edition of Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions contains all of the original and vital illustrations, allowing the reader to comprehend the geometry described in the satirical story. First published in the 1880s, Flatland is a playful satire of the hierarchical class structure which Abbott perceived as defining the Victorian society in which he lived. The titular country has a population consisting of different shapes; their shape denotes their place in the society - the more sides the shape has, and the more regular their shape, the higher the place they occupy in the social strata. The ordinary, day-to-day existence of the author (A. Square) is brought into question when he experiences a dream. In it a shape with depth, a Sphere, announces its existence and origin in Spaceland; a place with a third dimension. Thrilled by the revelation, the Square postulates that perhaps there are actually four, five or more dimensions constituting the world.

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.

The fourth dimension, humor, satire, and logic combine into a science-fiction classic that has entertained generations.

The fourth dimension, humor, satire, and logic combine into a science-fiction classic that has entertained generations.

This masterpiece of science (and mathematical) fiction is a delightfully unique and highly entertaining satire that has charmed readers for more than 100 years. The work of English clergyman, educator and Shakespearean scholar Edwin A. Abbott (1838-1926), it describes the journeys of A. Square, a mathematician and resident of the two-dimensional Flatland, where women-thin, straight lines-are the lowliest of shapes, and where men may have any number of sides, depending on their social status.
Through strange occurrences that bring him into contact with a host of geometric forms, Square has adventures in Spaceland (three dimensions), Lineland (one dimension) and Pointland (no dimensions) and ultimately entertains thoughts of visiting a land of four dimensions--a revolutionary idea for which he is returned to his two-dimensional world. Charmingly illustrated by the author, Flatland is not only fascinating reading, it is still a first-rate fictional introduction to the concept of the multiple dimensions of space. "Instructive, entertaining, and stimulating to the imagination." -- "Mathematics Teacher."

Edwin A. Abbott (1838 1926) was a British headmaster and theological scholar best known as the author of Flatland, an 1884 novella which was influential in the development of science fiction. Originally published in 1914, this book forms section 2 of a 5 volume work by Abbott on the four canonical gospels and the relationship between them. Taken together, the five volumes constitute part 10 of the Diatessarica, a series dealing with the gospels and their interpretation. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in biblical criticism and theology."

Edwin A. Abbott (1838 1926) was a British headmaster and theological scholar best known as the author of Flatland, an 1884 novella which was influential in the development of science fiction. Originally published in 1915, this book forms section 3 of a 5 volume work by Abbott on the four canonical gospels and the relationship between them. Taken together, the five volumes constitute part 10 of the Diatessarica, a series dealing with the gospels and their interpretation. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in biblical criticism and theology."

Edwin A. Abbott (1838 1926) was a British headmaster and theological scholar best known as the author of Flatland, an 1884 novella which was influential in the development of science fiction. Originally published in 1917, this book forms the final section of a 5 volume work by Abbott on the four canonical gospels and the relationship between them. Taken together, the five volumes constitute part 10 of the Diatessarica, a series dealing with the gospels and their interpretation. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in biblical criticism and theology."

Originally published in 1912, this book provides an extensive review of Gospel theology and Christology through the lens of the pseudepigraphical Psalms or Odes of Solomon. Abbott compares the language of the Gospels and other early Christian writings with the Psalms, and provides a translation of them, with alternative readings, at the back of the book. This richly detailed book will be of value to anyone with an interest in Christian readings of Jewish writings.