(B1) "Flatland" by Edwin Abbott Abbott [England, 1884]

Flatland – by Edwin Abbott Abbott

“Flatland” is a wonderfully quirky and clever book – small surprise when you consider that combining social satire and mathematical visions all through the creation of a fictitious world take some ingenuity. A great novel for anyone interested in fresh food for thought, “Flatland” is a science fiction work written by the English clergyman and admired headmaster Edwin Abbott Abbott in 1884. Abbott first published the book under the pseudonym “A. Square” [one of the many world plays in “Flatland,” this time also a pun on Abbott’s real name], the narrator of this story, set in the two dimensional land (Flatland) where he resides.

“Flatland” is split into two parts. Part One of the book concerns the nature of Flatland and provides a medium for Abbott’s satire of Victorian values, especially of the treatment of women and divisions of class. Part Two centers itself on the Square’s encounter with a Sphere from ‘Spaceland,’ and his conception of the third dimension. Thus Part Two concentrates on the idea of higher or lower dimensions, particularly serving as an introduction for us in Spaceland to the fourth dimension. This introduction is achieved primarily through analogy, like the Square asks of the Sphere:
Was I not taught below [in Flatland] that when I saw a Line and inferred a Plane, I in reality saw a Third unrecognized Dimension, not the same as brightness, but called ‘height’? And does it not now follow that, in this region [Spaceland], when I see a Plane and infer a Solid, I really see a Fourth unrecognized Dimension, not the same as colour, but existent, though infinitesimal and incapable of measurement?
To those that might feel a bit apprehensive by now of this novel (perhaps imagining that it relies on complex mathematical concepts) know that I have no mathematical passions or aspirations of my own yet found the concepts in this book to be highly understandable and very engaging. Actually I found Part Two even more exciting than satire heavy Part One. “Flatland” is also quite short, so if read in a fast pace it should not tire its readers with unnecessary digressions. Of course, there exist many ways of understanding and enjoying “Flatland,” all depending on what you personally want to get out of it.

Keeping with that in mind, “Flatland” is not likely to get you obsessively hooked, but it does stimulate the mind. Through a very charming plot and character line, Abbott weaves his heavier ideas. Abbott’s commentary on Victorian culture concerning women, elitism, manipulation of Darwinism, following authority blindly, controlling the masses, dismissal of new ideas, the power of knowledge, and more, are still quite relevant today. The dialogues of dimensions are especially interesting, particularly because they address grander ideas about the progression of knowledge and the universal search for truth. The inquisitive nature of the entire book can be summarized with this lesson: “that to be self-contented is to be vile and ignorant, and that to aspire is better than to be blindly and impotently happy.”


P.S.
1) I would recommend reading the “Annotated Flatland” (annotated by Ian Stewart), which is what I did. Some of the annotations bored me and some were interesting (especially in explaining aspects of Victorian culture that I was not aware of otherwise and did not want to research myself), but at least they were there and I could choose to ignore them if I wanted too.
2) Check out this youtube link: “Carl Sagan 4th Dimension Explanation”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9KT4M7kiSw
I watched it before I read the book. It is not the most accurate portrayal of what happens to the Square in “Flatland,” but it was interesting to think about and it helped me get initially engaged in the book.