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Flatland

by Edwin A. Abbott

Flatland

Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions is a classic 19th century novella that satirizes the social hierarchy of Victorian society using mathematical figures and ideas.

Source: Abbott, E. A. (1885). Flatland.Boston, MA: Roberts Brothers.

Front Matter
Opening quotes, dedication, and illustrations.
Preface to the second and revised edition
The preface to the book.
Part 1, This World, Section 1: Of the Nature of Flatland
The author explains to the reader the nature of Flatland.
Part 1, Section 2: Of the Climate and Houses in Flatland
The author uses shapes as a metaphor for males and females.
Part 1, Section 3: Concerning the Inhabitants of Flatland
The author describes the inhabitants of Flatland in regard to men and women.
Part 1, Section 4: Concerning the Women
The author explains his view of women.
Part 1, Section 5: Of Our Methods of Recognizing One Another
The author explains how inhabitants of Flatland recognize each other.
Part 1, Section 6: Of Recognition by Sight
The author continues to use geometric shapes to describe Flatland’s population.
Part 1, Section 7: Concerning Irregular Figures
The author clarifies a few things for the reader.
Part 1, Section 8: Of the Ancient Practice of Painting
The author talks about color.
Part 1, Section 9: Of the Universal Colour Bill
The author discusses the Art of Sight Recognition and the Universal Color Bill.
Part 1, Section 10: Of the Suppression of the Chromatic Sedition
The author discusses anarchy and a battle between the shapes.
Part 1, Section 11: Concerning Our Priests
The author describes the priests in Flatland.
Part 1, Section 12: Of the Doctrine of Our Priests
The author explains the basic doctrine of the priests.
Part 2, Other Worlds, Section 13: How I Had a Vision of Lifeland
The author has a vision of straight lines and assumes they are women.
Part 2, Section 14: How I Vainly Tried to Explain the Nature of Flatland
The author explains how he described Flatland to the king of Lifeland.
Part 2, Section 15: Concerning a Stranger from Spaceland
The author describes meeting a stranger in Spaceland.
Part 2, Section 16: How the Stranger Vainly Endeavoured to Reveal to Me in Words the Mysteries of Spaceland
The author describes what the stranger tells him of Spaceland.
Part 2, Section 17: How the Sphere, Having in Vain Tried Words, Resorted to Deeds
The sphere strikes back.
Part 2, Section 18: How I Came to Spaceland, and What I Saw There
The author describes his journey to Spaceland.
Part 2, Section 19: How, Though the Sphere Showed Me Other Mysteries of Spaceland, I Still Desire More; and What Came of It
The author describes his yearning for knowledge.
Part 2, Section 20: How the Sphere Encouraged Me in a Vision
The author describes his wife's reaction to the story.
Part 2, Section 21: How I Tried to Teach the Theory of Three Dimensions to My Grandson, and with What Success
The author describes how he attempted to teach three dimensions to his grandson.
Part 2, Section 22: How I Then Tried to Diffuse the Theory of Three Dimensions by Other Means, and of the Result
The author discusses his failure with his grandson.
  • Year Published: 1885
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: England
  • Readability:
    • Flesch–Kincaid Level: 12.0
  • Word Count: 34,089
  • Genre: Fantasy
  • Keywords: geometry
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