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

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.

How would a creature limited to two dimensions be able to grasp the possibility of a third? Edwin A. Abbott's droll and delightful "romance of many dimensions" explores this conundrum in the experiences of his protagonist, A Square, whose linear world is invaded by an emissary Sphere bringing the gospel of the third dimension. Part geometry lesson, part social satire, this classic work of science fiction brilliantly succeeds in enlarging all readers' imaginations beyond the limits of their "respective dimensional prejudices."
This new edition begins with an introduction by Rosemary Jann that illuminates the social and intellectual context that produced the work and explains its relationship to the theological issues central to Abbott's career. It also provides the most extensive discussion to date of the class and gender issues raised by the text and of the debates over the limits of scientific and mathematical knowledge in which it participated.
Flatlands unique combination of astute social, philosophical, and mathematical observations with wit and humor can be read at many different levels, and will prove especially enjoyable to readers of Victorian literature and philosophy.
About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

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 1913, this book forms section 1 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."