books:

	• Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions (Dover Thrift Editions) Edwin A. Abbott Dover Publications, 1992 - 96 pages average customer review:based on 160 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

I question its value as a teaching tool, though. I fear the Victorian niceties employed in the exposition will seem stilted and nigh unbearable to today's younger audience, especially if assigned as schoolwork. But, I think those who already grasp the mathematics involved (basic geometry) will enjoy it. Also, A. Square's unabashed enthusiasm and thirst for knowledge are qualities one would happily encourage in students.

My favorite part of the whole book has got to be the visit to the King of Pointland. The way Abbot so succinctly portrays humanity's capacity to ignore evidence that does not conform to preconceived notions, then force the facts to fit long established beliefs is a stroke of genius. In Pointland, ignorance really is bliss.

This little tale definitely provided excellent entertainment for the price I paid here at Amazon. If it sounds interesting to you, I suggest putting it on your wish list, and then adding it to the next purchase you make (your wallet will barely feel it).

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"To the Secrets of Four, Five, or Even Six Dimensions"

This is a book, indeed a fable, that was exquisitely designed to expand the mind. By showing how incomprehensible a three-dimensional world would be to two-dimensional entities, Abbott opens the door, and the mind, to speculation on higher dimensions. That is why the principles of this story are summarized in virtually every text dealing with the 4th dimension.

I believe Abbott framed this tale primarily to serve as a philosophical and mathematical justification of spiritual and "heavenly" subjects. After all, if a Sphere seemed a supernatural entity in Flatland, would not a 4th Dimensional entity seem so to us? I suspect that Mr. Abbott was also a Freemason, since the "regular progression of science from a point to a line, from a line to a superficies, from a superficies to a solid" is the way Freemasonry explains the process by which the Deity brings the four levels of existance into being. Actually, this is a neo-platonic teaching device that can be traced through the literature of the Renaissance, via medieval Spain, to Alexandria....

An examination of Theosophical Society literature from this period will also show a fascination with the 4th dimension as an explanation for spirit phenomena. Personally, I believe that this train of thought is still a quite valid analogy.

I found this book a joy to read, but then, I was trained in classical Euclidian geometry and formal proofs as a boy. I understand that such training is quite extinct in most modern public schools....

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One of the most creative works ever

Even though this was written around 1880 it still is one of the most creative science fiction books I have read. This is a real mindbender. Edwin A. Abbott made me realize in his novel how narrow minded I actually am even though I consider myself a very open minded person. I came away from this book realizing their are more dimensions out their that science has yet to discover. This book also has a hidden message in the book that most people are completely ignorant about the world around them. They think they know it all and have no desire to educate themselves further than the little education they already have.
People believe in myths and assumptions and are ignorant and don't bother to seek the real answers in life. This message was very powerful to me and an important lesson. This author was concise, wasn't wordy like so many sci-fi/fantasy authors now, and didn't fill the book with nothing but metaphors and similies, and got right to the point in his writing. It took me the same time to read this book as it takes me to read most of the long wordy sci-fi/fantasy novels out their now. When a 700-900 page novel takes the same time as a 150-250 page novel to read that means that 900 page novel is of very poor quality.

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