Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions

A new edition of Edwin A. Abbott's classic satirical novella Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions, originally published in 1884. Written by "A Square," Flatland is the story of a fictional two-dimensional world, which Abbott uses to satirize the hierarchy of Victorian culture. Our protagonist's mind becomes open to the possibility to new dimensions beyond his two-dimensional Flatland -- being introduced to a three-dimensional world in a dream by a Sphere -- but he finds few believers among his fellow Flatlanders, and the leaders of Flatland soon issue decrees forbidding anyone from preaching the existence of three dimensions, so he sets into writing his beliefs so as to preserve the idea of a multidimensional world for posterity.

A biting social satire in its own day, Flatland has also proven enduringly influential among students and lovers of mathematics and geometry, for its meaningful discussions regarding the nature of dimensions, and as a fascinating and influential example of early science fiction and as a rare example of "mathematical" fiction.

Edwin A. Abbott (1837-1926) was a English educator, theologian, writer, and Anglican clergyman. He is best known as the author of the novella Flatland (1884), which describes a two-dimensional world and explores the nature of dimensions. Flatland has often been categorized as science fiction although it could more precisely be called "mathematical fiction". Edwin Abbott was also widely published on theological and philological matters and published several novels that were fictionalized retellings of Biblical accounts.