The Annotated Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0465011233 ISBN 13: 9780465011230

Publisher: Basic Books, 2008

Synopsis

Flatland is a unique, delightful satire that has charmed readers for over a century. Published in 1884 by the English clergyman and headmaster Edwin A. Abbott, it is the fanciful tale of A. Square, a two-dimensional being who is whisked away by a mysterious visitor to The Land of Three Dimensions, an experience that forever alters his worldview.

Like the original, Ian Stewart's commentary takes readers on a strange and wonderful journey. With clarity and wit, Stewart illuminates Abbott's numerous Victorian references and touches on such diverse topics as ancient Babylon, Karl Marx, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Mt. Everest, H.G. Wells, and phrenology. The Annotated Flatland makes fascinating connections between Flatland and Abbott's era, resulting in a classic to rival Abbott's own, and a book that will inspire and delight curious readers for generations to come.

About this title

Review:

The product of an agreeably dotty cleric named Edwin Abbott Abbott and first published in 1884, Flatland distills all that the Victorian era knew of higher mathematics--and then some--into a witty, complex novel of ideas.

Ian Stewart, the author of the equally witty sequel, Flatterland--which adds to Abbott's store of science the key discoveries made since--does a superb job of explaining the original book's enigmas, allusions, ironies, implausibilities, and what Douglas Hofstadter would call "metamagical themas." Among other things, Stewart comments on Abbott's comments on such things as the nature/nurture controversy, the fourth dimension and beyond, the role of multidimensional spaces in economic systems, infinite series and perfect squares, celestial mechanics, and other matters close to the hearts of cosmologists and science buffs alike.

Stewart's notes make an entertaining and learned addition to an already classic bit of writing--one that has never been out of print since its first publication. For both devoted Abbott fans and newcomers to his work, this is the edition to have. --Gregory McNamee

About the Author:

Edwin A. Abbott was born in London on December 20, 1838. Educated in St. John's College in Cambridge, he was ordained in 1862 and three years later was appointed headmaster of the City of London School, where he served until 1889. Abbott wrote over fifty books, most of them scholarly works. He died in Hampstead on October 12, 1926.

Ian Stewart is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick and Director of its Mathematics Awareness Centre. His many books include Why Beauty Is Truth, Nature's Numbers, Does God Play Dice?, and Letters to a Young Mathematician. He lives in Warwick, England.

About this edition

• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0465011233
• ISBN 13: 9780465011230
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272