Flatland: A Romance of Many DimensionsIn 1884, Edwin Abbott Abbott wrote a mathematical adventure set in a two-dimensional plane world, populated by a hierarchical society of regular geometrical figures-who think and speak and have all too human emotions. Since then Flatland has fascinated generations of readers, becoming a perennial science-fiction favorite. By imagining the contact of beings from different dimensions, the author fully exploited the power of the analogy between the limitations of humans and those of his two-dimensional characters. |
Contents
Of the Nature of Flatland | 3 |
Of the Climate and Houses in Flatland | 4 |
Concerning the Inhabitants of Flatland | 6 |
Concerning the Women | 8 |
Of our Methods of Recognizing one another | 12 |
Of Recognition by Sight | 16 |
Concerning Irregular Figures | 20 |
Of the Ancient Practice of Painting | 22 |
How I had a Vision of Lineland | 39 |
How in my Vision I endeavoured to explain the nature of Flatland but could not | 42 |
Concerning a Stranger from Spaceland | 46 |
Having been previously conversant | 47 |
How the Stranger vainly endeavoured to reveal to me in words the mysteries of Spaceland | 49 |
How the Sphere having in vain tried words resorted to deeds | 55 |
How I came to Spaceland and what I saw there | 57 |
How though the Sphere showed me other mysteries of Spaceland I still desired more and what came of it | 61 |
Of the Universal Colour Bill | 24 |
ΙΟ Of the Suppression of the Chromatic Sedition | 27 |
Concerning our Priests | 30 |
Of the Doctrine of our Priests | 32 |
Other Worlds | 37 |
So the Citizens of that Celestial Region | 62 |
How the Sphere encouraged me in a Vision | 66 |
How I tried to teach the Theory of Three Dimensions to my Grandson and with what success | 68 |
How I then tried to diffuse the Theory of Three Dimensions by other means and of the result | 70 |