Flatland

A Romance of Many Dimensions

Edwin A. Abbott
Edited by Rosemary Jann

Oxford World's Classics

176 pages | Line drawings | 196x129mm

978-0-19-953750-1 | Paperback | 12 June 2008

Price: £6.99

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Flatland is an extraordinary Victorian fantasy and satire on Victorian society in which the narrator, A Square describes life in two dimensions before encountering the third dimension and imagining the existence of a fourth - and more. This new edition taps into the fable's imaginative paralleling of today's string theory, as well as its discussion of Victorian theology, class, and gender issues.
This delightful novel combines astute social, philosophical, spiritual and mathematical observations with imaginative wit and humour, and like Lewis Carroll's fictions can be read at many different levels.
Rosemary Jann's introduction distils recent research on the Victorian intellectual contexts that produced Flatland and explains its relationship to the theological issues central to Abbott's career. It provides the most extensive discussion to date of the class and gender issues raised by the text and of the debates over the limits of scientific and mathematical knowledge in which it participated.
Includes the original line illustrations.

'Upward, yet not Northward.'

How would a creature limited to two dimensions be able to grasp the possibility of a third? Edwin A. Abbott's droll and delightful 'romance of many dimensions' explores this conundrum in the experiences of his protagonist, A Square, whose linear world is invaded by an emissary Sphere bringing the gospel of the third dimension on the eve of the new millennium. Part geometry lesson, part social satire, this classic work of science fiction brilliantly succeeds in enlarging all readers' imaginations beyond the limits of our 'respective dimensional prejudices'. In a world where class is determined by how many sides you possess, and women are straight lines, the prospects for enlightenment are boundless, and Abbott's hypotheses about a fourth and higher dimensions seem startlingly relevant today.

This new edition of Flatland illuminates the social and intellectual context that produced the work as well as the timeless questions that it raises about the limits of our perception and knowledge.
ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
Readership: Students of Nineteenth-century English literature, Victorian studies, science-fiction and fantasy, also religion, mathematics, physics. General readers of sci-fi and popular science.

The specification in this catalogue, including without limitation price, format, extent, number of illustrations, and month of publication, was as accurate as possible at the time the catalogue was compiled. Occasionally, due to the nature of some contractual restrictions, we are unable to ship a specific product to a particular territory. Jacket images are provisional and liable to change before publication.

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Flatland

A Romance of Many Dimensions

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