Flatland: a romance of many dimensions, paperback/edwin a. abbott

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

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.

``Instructive, entertaining, and stimulating to the imagination.

`` -- Mathematics Teacher .