Imatge de l'autor

Edwin A. Abbott (1838–1926)

Autor/a de Planilàndia

37+ obres 10,224 Membres 191 Ressenyes 4 preferits

Sobre l'autor

Edwin A. Abbott was born December 20, 1838. He attended City of London School and Cambridge, where he was an honor student in the classics. Following the career path of his father, Abbott was ordained an Anglican minister. Later he rejected a career as a clergyman and at the age of twenty-six, he mostra'n més returned to City of London School as Headmaster, a position he held for twenty-five years. Always curious about views from varying perspectives, he promoted a liberal attitude toward people of differing backgrounds. As president of the Teachers Training Society, for example, he lobbied for access to university education for women. He resigned as Headmaster at age fifty-three in protest of proposed changes to the mission of the school. Abbott wrote more than fifty books on widely different topics. He had published two series of his sermons while at Cambridge, a book on Shakespearean grammar, and accounts of his efforts to admit women to higher education. His most notable work is Flatland, written in 1884. Flatland is still widely read by both mathematicians and science-fiction readers because of its portrayal of the idea of higher dimensions. The narrator, a two-dimensional square called A Square happens into a three-dimensional world where he gains a wider vision into objects in his two-dimensional home. The book was a favorite with C. S. Lewis. Abbott died on October 12, 1926. (Bowker Author Biography) mostra'n menys
Crèdit de la imatge: Courtesy of the NYPL Digital Gallery (image use requires permission from the New York Public Library)

Obres de Edwin A. Abbott

Planilàndia (1884) 9,689 exemplars
Flatland / Sphereland (1994) 284 exemplars
Johannine Grammar (1906) 13 exemplars
Tauba Auerbach: Folds (2011) 11 exemplars
Via Latina: A First Latin Book (1903) — Autor — 8 exemplars
Philochristus (1878) 7 exemplars
Silanus the Christian (1906) 5 exemplars
How to Parse (2019) 5 exemplars
Philomythus (1891) 5 exemplars

Obres associades

Science Fiction Short Stories (Gothic Fantasy) (2015) — Col·laborador — 136 exemplars
The World of Mathematics, Volume 4 (1956) — Col·laborador — 123 exemplars
Das Hobbit-Buch (1988) — Autor — 7 exemplars

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I'm not sure why the subtitle contains the word 'romance'.
This book reminded me of Star Maker, but luckily Flatland is much shorter and consists of beautiful English prose. Flatland is a monologue describing an epiphany concerning the Nature of the Universe. I also see connections with thought experiments such as Plato's allegory of the cave. It invites the reader to extend the analogy to our own experience.
The tone of the narrator is scientific and slightly sad, which makes it (despite its short length) a bit of a heavy read. There's also a distopian tinge to the story.
The Flatland States are conservative and very woman-unfriendly. Can't tell if the writer is a bigot or a satirist. ;)
… (més)
 
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jd7h | Hi ha 182 ressenyes més | Feb 18, 2024 |
This is a fascinating little book. Written in the latish 19th century, it is a despatch from a very simple two-dimensional world by one of its inhabitants, the supposed author: A Square. The first part of the book simply describes the society of Flatland for the benefit of we three-dimensional creatures, its intended audience. The second describes how the square came to learn of our three-dimensional world, as well as other zero- and one-dimensional worlds, and his efforts to educate his fellow bi-dimensional fellows about the higher dimensions.

Both sections are very different (the first has little plot, and more of the maths; the second is much more philosophical), but both are packed with allusions and layers of meaning. For example, the society shows antediluvian, barely qualified, attitudes to women and class - this is a little off-putting initially, until it becomes clear that this is social satire, of a Swiftian level. In describing his attempts to educate people about the higher-dimensions, Abbott is explicitly imploring the reader to be open-minded about radical abstract ideas, by way of making us consider that there are higher-dimensions of which we are not aware. And ultimately the story contains elements of traditional tragedy, of transformation - apotheosis even - and of attaining knowledge from a state of ignorance and of the resultant fall from grace.

On top of that, the book is crammed with references to Shakespeare and the classics. (And through all that it is written in beguilingly simple language (although in a slightly archaic style - even for the 19th century - to give it a timeless quality).

It is a deceptively simple, towering achievement.

This edition in particular is to be recommended. I found the notes on the maths, and Abbott's literary references very useful (although the ones explaining some of the language far less so). And almost more fascinating than Abbott's fable of abstract thought is the man that emerges in the other material in the book.

From the main text you discern a clever, thorough, drily witty and whimsical man; and the basic notes clearly illustrate through their detailing of classical and literary allusions, a highly - and widely - learned man; but that barely scratches the many surfaces of Abbott. Fortunately there is considerable back material in the appendices to fill in some of the detail. His accomplishments include

Legendary headmaster (Prime Minister Asquith attended the City of London School while Abbott was in charge)
An award-winning Cambridge scholar (top in his year in Classics)
A renowned preacher
A bible scholar and leading progressive thinker on the non-miraculous Jesus (reminiscent of Thomas Jefferson's 'The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazare')
Shakespearean scholar
A biographer and critic of Cardinal Newman
Educational reformer (an early proponent of formal teacher training; promoting teaching for lower classes)
Active Proponent of women's education and suffrage
Admiree (reciprocated) of George Eliot
Author of numerous books and essays, on a range of topics encompassing most of the above

And, of course, a writer of whimsical mathematical fiction, which - along with beautifully communicated (and occasionally entertainingly illustrated) higher mathematical concepts - incorporates existentialism, social criticism, and a plea for scientific rigour and open-mindedness.

I have a new hero.
… (més)
 
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thisisstephenbetts | Hi ha 182 ressenyes més | Nov 25, 2023 |
Delightful and thought-provoking for a twelve-year-old.
 
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sfj2 | Hi ha 182 ressenyes més | Nov 13, 2023 |
This was pretty amazing. 1800 style writing and talking geometry, what is not to like? Ultimately the readability suffers under these two characteristics, but Abott wrote a pretty interesting short story regardless. For anyone who doesn't want to go through 80 pages of "doths" and "thy's" I cannot recommend the 2007 Ehlinger movie Flatland enough.
 
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bramboomen | Hi ha 182 ressenyes més | Oct 18, 2023 |

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Obres
37
També de
4
Membres
10,224
Popularitat
#2,322
Valoració
3.8
Ressenyes
191
ISBN
416
Llengües
17
Preferit
4

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