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Flatland is a fascinating nineteenth century work - an utterly
unique combination of multi-plane geometry, social satire and
whimsy. Although its original publication went largely unnoticed,
the discoveries of later physicists brought it new recognition and
respect, and its popularity since has justly never waned. It
remains a charming and entertaining read, and a brilliant
introduction to the concept of dimensions beyond those we can
perceive. This is a reworking of the expanded 2nd edition of 1884,
with particularly large, clear text, and all the original author's
illustrations.
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Johannine Grammar
Edwin Abbott Abbott
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R1,186
Discovery Miles 11 860
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Ships in 12 - 17 working days
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A satirical novella is set in the world of Flatland. Edwin Abbott
Abbott writes pseudonymously as "A. Square" a plane form living in
a two dimensional reality in order to offer pointed observations on
the social hierarchy of Victorian culture. His place in the social
hierarchy is in the middle class, and he describes effectively the
other classes within his world. The dangerous Women, or single
lines, the dull yet powerful Isosceles Triangles, or soldiers and
laymen, the Equilateral Triangle, or tradesmen, the Nobility class,
or Polygon class, and the Circles, or Priests, all combine to make
a social order within Flatland. Their existence is complete with
class strife, discrimination, alteration, regulation, wars, and
power struggles, just as any other society in existence. When A.
Square dreams of another world, Lineland, he is struck by a need to
explain to the inhabitants the error of their one dimensional
viewpoints and introduce them to a second dimension. Noted science
writer Isaac Asimov described Flatland as "The best introduction
one can find into the manner of perceiving dimensions" in a
foreword to one publication. As such, the work is still popular
amongst mathematics, physics and computer science students.
What if there existed a world consisting of only two spatial
dimensions? This mind-bending supposition is the jumping-off point
for one of 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.
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