Showing results for title "Flatland", by author "Edwin Abbott" in Literary Fiction

This masterpiece of science (and mathematical) fiction is a delightfully unique and highly entertaining satire that has charmed audiences 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.

Abbott used the fictional two-dimensional world of Flatland to offer pointed observations on the social hierarchy of Victorian culture. However, the novella's more enduring contribution is its examination of dimensions, for which the novella is still popular amongst mathematics, physics, and computer science students. Several films have been made from the story, including a feature film in 2007 called Flatland. Other efforts have been short or experimental films, including one narrated by Dudley Moore and a short film with Martin Sheen titled Flatland: The Movie.

Flatland is populated by Squares, Triangles, Circles, and Lines, all of which are strictly divided by class and gender. However, our narrator, A Square, living a practical life in this two-dimensional universe, dreams of other worlds. Perhaps A Sphere, a figure from a three-dimensional realm, can help drive home the point. But, as A Square soon discovers, educating Flatland about the shapes of things to come proves to be a dangerous infraction.

Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions is a satirical novella by the English schoolmaster Edwin Abbott Abbott, first published in 1884 by Seeley & Co. of London. Written pseudonymously by "A Square", the book used the fictional two-dimensional world of Flatland to comment on the hierarchy of Victorian culture, but the novella's more enduring contribution is its examination of dimensions.

Enter the fascinating world of Flatland, a timeless classic that blends mathematics, philosophy, and societal commentary into an imaginative tale of dimensions. In this groundbreaking novella, Edwin A. Abbott introduces listeners to a two-dimensional universe inhabited by geometric shapes. Narrated by a humble square, the story explores life in a flat plane where hierarchy is determined by shape and angles, offering sharp insights into the rigid class systems of Abbott’s time—and our own.