Flatland

出版者:Dover Publications

作者:Edwin A. Abbott

页数:96

出版时间:1992-9-21

价格:USD 3.00

装帧:Paperback

isbn号码:9780486272634

具体描述

'Upward, yet not Northward.' How would a creature limited to two dimensions be able to grasp the possibility of a third? Edwin A. Abbott's droll and delightful 'romance of many dimensions' explores this conundrum in the experiences of his protagonist, A Square, whose linear world is invaded by an emissary Sphere bringing the gospel of the third dimension on the eve of the new millennium. Part geometry lesson, part social satire, this classic work of science fiction brilliantly succeeds in enlarging all readers' imaginations beyond the limits of our 'respective dimensional prejudices'. In a world where class is determined by how many sides you possess, and women are straight lines, the prospects for enlightenment are boundless, and Abbott's hypotheses about a fourth and higher dimensions seem startlingly relevant today. This new edition of Flatland illuminates the social and intellectual context that produced the work as well as the timeless questions that it raises about the limits of our perception and knowledge. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

作者简介

From Biography Base:

Edwin Abbott Abbott, English schoolmaster and theologian, is best known as the author of the mathematical satire Flatland (1884).

He was educated at the City of London School and at St John's College, Cambridge, where he took the highest honours in classics, mathematics and theology, and became fellow of his college. In 1862 he took orders. After holding masterships at King Edward's School, Birmingham, and at Clifton College, he succeeded G. F. Mortimer as headmaster of the City of London School in 1865 at the early age of twenty-six. He was Hulsean lecturer in 1876.

He retired in 1889, and devoted himself to literary and theological pursuits. Dr. Abbott's liberal inclinations in theology were prominent both in his educational views and in his books. His Shakespearian Grammar (1870) is a permanent contribution to English philology. In 1885 he published a life of Francis Bacon. His theological writings include three anonymously published religious romances - Philochristus (1878), Onesimus (1882), and Sitanus (1906).

More weighty contributions are the anonymous theological discussion The Kernel and the Husk (1886), Philomythus (1891), his book The Anglican Career of Cardinal Newman (1892), and his article "The Gospels" in the ninth edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, embodying a critical view which caused considerable stir in the English theological world. He also wrote St Thomas of Canterbury, his Death and Miracles (1898), Johannine Vocabulary (1905), Johannine Grammar (1906). Flatland was published in 1884.

Sources that say he is the brother of Evelyn Abbott (1843 - 1901), who was a well-known tutor of Balliol College, Oxford, and author of a scholarly history of Greece, are in error.

目录信息

PART I: THIS WORLD
Section
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
13. How I had a Vision of Lineland
14. How I vainly tried to explain the nature of Flatland
15. Concerning a Stranger from Spaceland
16. How the Stranger vainly endeavoured to reveal to me
in words the mysteries of Spaceland
17. How the Sphere, having in vain tried words,
resorted to deeds
18. How I came to Spaceland, and what I saw there
19. How, though the Sphere shewed me other mysteries
of Spaceland, I still desired more; and what came of it
20. How the Sphere encouraged me in a Vision
21. How I tried to teach the Theory of Three Dimensions
to my Grandson, and with what success
22. How I then tried to diffuse the Theory
of Three Dimensions by other means, and of the result
· · · · · · (收起)

读后感

焦建/文 上完中学的几何课程之后，除了对数学有兴趣的人，估计不会有太多人还对于平面和纬度产生兴趣。作为一种理解更加艰深知识的工具，这些概念被当做一种学习的跳板。我们都记得的公理是——点移动成线，线移动成面，面移动成体。立体图形成为学习的核心，除此之外，其他的...  

很有滋味的小说，描述细致笔触幽默。 作者对二维世界不仅有出自逻辑与数学角度的构想（比如平面国的人如何认知这个世界，如何判断男女以及不同个体，如何通过明暗变化与线条长短的配合来判断来者边数等），更延伸到了意识形态、思想文化以及宗教信仰等层面（比如边数决定等级，...  

最近我读了一本非常有趣的科幻小说，是埃德温·艾勃特的《平面国》，正如书名所提示的那样，它主要描绘了一个处在二维空间中的国家，在那里一切都是平面的，甚至连人也是一样。也许我们这些处在三维空间的人会觉得他们可怜，但他们本身却是自有一番乐趣。 平面国的居民...  

最近我读了一本非常有趣的科幻小说，是埃德温·艾勃特的《平面国》，正如书名所提示的那样，它主要描绘了一个处在二维空间中的国家，在那里一切都是平面的，甚至连人也是一样。也许我们这些处在三维空间的人会觉得他们可怜，但他们本身却是自有一番乐趣。 平面国的居民...  

 2007年5月31日，徐贲先生论及小资群众（群众中的一类）的喜好，说他们最厌恶的人就是小职员，如契诃夫作品中的人物……忽然他提及了一本书，名为《Flatland》，作者是19世纪的一个英国牧师，Edwin A.Abbott。书名直译为《平地》或《平面国》。 设想平展着一张极大...  

用户评价

Martin Puchner介绍的一本非常有意思的小说涵盖了原始 Poiesis 的概念，以及以米尔顿的《失乐园》为最佳代表，世界文学概念形成当中 fantasy 与 world creation 作用。这也得以解释当代文学当中high literature 对于 Poesis 驱使的space sublime 类型的fantasy （而非传统Mimesis，如现实主义形式的）给予的越来越大的包容。而另一个极端的例子可以说是卡尔维诺的《看不见的城市》。

内容很有趣，开始时对我来说语言有点难，后半本不知是习惯了还是剧情展开了完全不觉语言障碍了

奇点、恒星、质数，哪个更孤独？

kindle有免费公版书～

虽然作者是个种族歧视又是个性别歧视，但却没想到自己的书对未来种族性别革命的预见性是如此的准确……