Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions - Princeton Science Library

Marc Notes: This allegorical tale describes a world of only two dimensions, its turbulent quest for social order, and its reaction to a three-dimensional universe. 'Flatland' is an experiment in expanding our ways of thinking and experiencing the world. Biographical Note: Edwin Abbott Abbott (1838-1926), the author of more than fifty books on classics, theology, history, and Shakespeare, was headmaster of the City of London School and one of the leading educators of his time. Thomas Banchoff is professor emeritus of mathematics at Brown University and author of "Beyond the Third Dimension."Review Quotes: "One of the most imaginative, delightful and, yes, touching works of mathematics, this slender 1884 book purports to be the memoir of A. Square, a citizen of an entirely two-dimensional world."--"The Washington Post Book World"Review Quotes: ""Flatland" has remained of interest for over a century precisely because of its ability to engage its readers on so many different planes in so many different dimensions."--"Victorian Studies"Review Quotes: "This reprint of Abbott's Flatland adventures contains an Introduction by Thomas Banchoff which is worth reading on its own. So if you don't have yet this book at home, go ahead and buy this edition."--"Zentralblatt MATH"Publisher Marketing: In 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. A first-rate fictional guide to the concept of multiple dimensions of space, the book will also appeal to those who are interested in computer graphics. This field, which literally makes higher dimensions seeable, has aroused a new interest in visualization. We can now manipulate objects in four dimensions and observe their three-dimensional slices tumbling on the computer screen. But how do we interpret these images? In his introduction, Thomas Banchoff points out that there is no better way to begin exploring the problem of understanding higher-dimensional slicing phenomena than reading this classic novel of the Victorian era. Review Citations:

Scitech Book News 09/01/2006 pg. 41 (EAN 9781591022961, Paperback)

Ingram Paperback Advance 05/01/2005 pg. 63 (EAN 9780451529763, Mass Market Paperbound)

Contributor Bio:  Abbott, Edwin Abbott Edwin Abbott Abbott (1838-1926) has been ranked as one of the leading scholars and theologians of the Victorian era. He received highest honors in mathematics, classics, and theology at St. John's College, Cambridge, and in 1862 began a brilliant career, during which he served as schoolmaster of some of England's outstanding schools. At the same time he distinguished himself as a scholar, and in 1889 he retired to his studies. Although "Flatland, a literary jeu d'esprit, " has given pleasure to thousands of readers over many generations, Abbott is best known for his scholarly works, especially his "Shakespearian Grammar "and his life of Francis Bacon, and for a number of theological discussions. Contributor Bio:  Banchoff, Thomas Thomas Banchoff is Director of the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs and Professor in the Department of Government and School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He is the author of The German Problem Transformed: Institutions, Politics, and Foreign Policy, 1945 1995, editor of Religious Pluralism, Globalization, and World Politics and Democracy and the New Religious Pluralism, and coeditor of Religion and the Global Politics of Human Rights and Legitimacy and the European Union: The Contested Polity.