Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions, by Edwin Abbot.

Part one. Sections one to three of Flatland.

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FLATLAND

A Romance of Many Dimensions, by Edwin Abbott, Abbot.

To

The Inhabitants of SPACE IN GENERAL
And H. C. IN PARTICULAR

This Work is Dedicated
By a Humble Native of Flatland

In the Hope that
Even as he was Initiated into the Mysteries

Of THREE Dimensions
Having been previously conversant

With ONLY Two
So the Citizens of that Celestial Region

May aspire yet higher and higher
To the Secrets of FOUR FIVE OR EVEN Six Dimensions

Thereby contributing
To the Enlargement of THE IMAGINATION

And the possible Development

Of that most rare and excellent Gift of MODESTY

Among the Superior Races

Of SOLID HUMANITY


PART 1. This world.


"Be -patient, for the world is broad and wide"


Section I. Of the Nature of Flat land.

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



4 Flatland

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.

Place a penny on the middle of one of your tables in Space ; and
leaning over it, look down upon it. It will appear a circle.

But now, drawing back to the edge of the table, gradually lower
your eye (thus bringing yourself more and more into the condition of
the inhabitants of Flatland), and you will find the penny becoming more
and more oval to your view ; and at last when you have placed your
eye exactly on the edge of the table (so that you are, as it were,
actually a Flatland citizen) the penny will then have ceased to appear
oval at all, and will have become, so far as you can see, a straight line.
The same thing would happen if you were to treat in the same way a
Triangle, or Square, or any other figure cut out of pasteboard. As soon
as you look at it with your eye on the edge of
the table, you will find that it ceases to appear
to you a figure, and that it becomes in appear-
ance a straight line. Take for example an
equilateral Triangle who represents with us a
Tradesman of the respectable class. Fig. I
represents the Tradesman as you would see him

while you were bending over him from above ;

(2)