Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Flatland with Notes and Commentary
- Part I This World
- 1 Of the Nature of Flatland
- 2 Of the Climate and Houses in Flatland
- 3 Concerning the Inhabitants of Flatland
- 4 Concerning the Women
- 5 Of our Methods of Recognizing one another
- 6 Of Recognition by Sight
- 7 Concerning Irregular Figures
- 8 Of the Ancient Practice of Painting
- 9 Of the Universal Colour Bill
- 10 Of the Suppression of the Chromatic Sedition
- 11 Concerning our Priests
- 12 Of the Doctrine of our Priests
- Part II Other Worlds
- Epilogue by the Editor
- Continued Notes
- Appendix A Critical Reaction to Flatland
- Appendix B The Life and Work of Edwin Abbott Abbott
- Recommended Reading
- References
- Index of Defined Words
- Index
1 - Of the Nature of Flatland
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Flatland with Notes and Commentary
- Part I This World
- 1 Of the Nature of Flatland
- 2 Of the Climate and Houses in Flatland
- 3 Concerning the Inhabitants of Flatland
- 4 Concerning the Women
- 5 Of our Methods of Recognizing one another
- 6 Of Recognition by Sight
- 7 Concerning Irregular Figures
- 8 Of the Ancient Practice of Painting
- 9 Of the Universal Colour Bill
- 10 Of the Suppression of the Chromatic Sedition
- 11 Concerning our Priests
- 12 Of the Doctrine of our Priests
- Part II Other Worlds
- Epilogue by the Editor
- Continued Notes
- Appendix A Critical Reaction to Flatland
- Appendix B The Life and Work of Edwin Abbott Abbott
- Recommended Reading
- References
- Index of Defined Words
- Index
Summary
I call our world Flatland, not because we call it so, but to make its nature clearer to you, my happy readers, who are privileged to live in Space.
Imagine a vast sheet of paper on which straight Lines, Triangles, Squares, Pentagons, Hexagons, and other figures, instead of remaining fixed in their places, move freely about, on or in the surface, but without the power of rising above or sinking below it, very much like shadows – only hard and with luminous edges – and you will then have a pretty correct notion of my country and countrymen. Alas, a few years ago, I should have said “my universe”: but now my mind has been opened to higher views of things.
In such a country, you will perceive at once that it is impossible that there should be anything of what you call a “solid” kind; but I dare say you will suppose that we could at least distinguish by sight the Triangles, Squares, and other figures, moving about as I have described them. On the contrary, we could see nothing of the kind, not at least so as to distinguish one figure from another. Nothing was visible, nor could be visible, to us, except straight Lines; and the necessity of this I will speedily demonstrate.
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- Information
- FlatlandAn Edition with Notes and Commentary, pp. 16 - 20Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009