Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott · 4 October 2007
Time for math!
I recently borrowed Edwin A. Abbott's Flatland from a friend and gave it a quick read. It was a quick read since the book is only 96 pages long, but still an entertaining diversion for a math lover like me.
Spoilers begin here.
The novella describes the world in which the main character, named A Square, lives. The interesting thing about this world is that it is made up of only two dimensions, hence the book's title. While I found this description a little slow and drab, that may not be the case for someone less familiar with geometry. You see, I'm a computer programmer that intimately deals with geometry for the sake of graphics on a daily basis. Thankfully, for at least me, the author moves on mid-way through the book (remember, this is only 50 pages or so) and gets to the good stuff.
A Square's world is rocked when he comes across a group of one-dimensional beings that live on a line. Compared to the plane that A Square lives on, these poor creatures are woefully limited in movement and extremely naive about the world he lives in. Later, A Square is come upon in the same manner as he came across the one-dimensional beings by a three-dimensional being who, in turn, mocks him for his limited range and knowledge.
Spoilers end here.
The interesting idea for the reader to ponder is that of dimensions. All of us know we live in a three-dimensional world and all of us can conceive of a two-dimensional world (a flat plane), a one-dimensional world (a straight line), and perhaps even a zero-dimensional world (an infinitely small point). We've got our dimensionality down and we look down on those lesser dimensions. However, how do we know there are not four dimensions and we are existing on but a small portion of that world as a flat plane exists only in part of ours, or a straight line in part of the plane, or a point in part of the line? Could the four-dimensional world exist beyond our senses? Can science help us build devices to detect it or even understand it? These questions are all open to the reader of the book, or this blog (hey, look, a comments section!).
All in all, I enjoyed Flatland for the questions it raised. It starts slow, but that doesn't last long due to the shortness of the entire book. I recommend anyone who's interested in the above philosophical discussion to pick up a copy.
Next up (and totally unrelated): Pizza!
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