Flatland A Romance of Many Dimensions is an
1884 novella by
Edwin A. Abbott, still popular among
mathematics and
computer science students, and considered useful reading for people studying topics such as the concept of other
dimensions. As a piece of literature, Flatland is respected for its satire on the social hierarchy of
Victorian society. Isaac Asimov, in a foreword to one of the many publications of the novella, wrote that it is "The best introduction one can find into the manner of perceiving dimensions."
Several films have been made from the story, including a feature film in 2007 called Flatland The Film. Other efforts have been short or experimental films, including one narrated by Dudley Moore, and another with Martin Sheen.
The story is about a two-dimensional world referred to as Flatland. The narrator, named A. Square, a humble square (the social caste of gentlemen and professionals), guides us through some of the implications of life in two dimensions. The Square has a dream about a visit to a one-dimensional world (Lineland), and attempts to convince the realm's ignorant monarch of a second dimension, but finds that it is essentially impossible to make him see outside of his eternally straight line.
The narrator is then visited by a three-dimensional sphere, which he cannot comprehend until he sees Spaceland for himself. This sphere, who remains nameless, visits Flatland at the turn of each millennium to introduce a new apostle to the idea of a third dimension in the hopes of eventually educating the population of Flatland of the existence of Spaceland. From the safety of Spaceland, they are able to observe the leaders of Flatland secretly acknowledging the existence of the sphere and prescribing the silencing of anyone found preaching the truth of Spaceland and the third dimension. After this proclamation is made, many witnesses are massacred or imprisoned (according to caste).
