The Introduction outlines Coleridge’s alertness to the geometric idiom that helped shaped his responses to the landscape of his surroundings. In particular, this opening explains why Euclid’s Elements was such a basic text in Coleridge’s cultural context. To guide the reader, the Introduction outlines the book’s argument.

As Coleridge aged, his prose no longer resonates with the animated descriptions of his rambling but, instead, dwells even more on working out his thoughts concerning social and political problems and the dynamics of human relations, as well as the intricacies of religious and philosophical thought. Throughout his indebtedness to the geometric idiom remains evident. However, Euclid’s hold on England’s spatial imagination was shifting. To many, such as Charles Dodgson, he was still important, but this orientation was not without its challenges, especially on the Continent, where theoretical mathematicians were exploring alternate ways of regarding one’s surroundings. The book closes by suggesting that Coleridge, though still basically indebted to Euclidean thought, did unwittingly and occasionally anticipate the challenges to Euclidean thought and the ensuing paradigm shifts.