Flatland - Abbott, Edwin A.

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Résumé :
'Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions' is one of the most original pieces of fiction ever written by Edwin A. Abbott, an English theologian, clergyman, educator, and Shakespearean scholar. This is a satirical mathematical novella that also examines English society during the Victorian era. 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. Through strange occurrences that bring him into contact with a host of geometric forms, Square has adventures in Spaceland (three dimensions), Lineland (one dimension), and Pointland (no dimensions) and ultimately entertains thoughts of visiting a land of four dimensions-a revolutionary idea for which he is returned to his two-dimensional world. Charmingly illustrated by the author, Flatland is not only fascinating reading; it is still a first-rate fictional introduction to the concept of the multiple dimensions of space.

Sommaire:
Edwin A. Abbott was an English schoolmaster, theologian, scholar, and writer best remembered for Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions. Born in London in 1838, Abbott was educated at Cambridge and became headmaster of the City of London School. His career combined classical scholarship, theology, education, and literary experiment, and his wide intellectual range helped give Flatland its unusual mixture of geometry, satire, philosophy, and imaginative fiction.Although Abbott wrote many works on religion, education, grammar, and criticism, Flatland remains his enduring masterpiece. Its simple premise-a two-dimensional being forced to confront the existence of a higher dimension-became a lasting metaphor for intellectual limitation, social blindness, and the possibility of realities beyond ordinary perception. The book continues to attract readers of classic science fiction, mathematical fiction, Victorian satire, philosophy, and popular introductions to dimensional thinking....