My Reaction

I really enjoyed this book. It brought a new outlook on math for me. Personally i don't enjoy math that much, but this book i enjoyed. I really enjoyed how the author uses personification. the fact that he made the characters have human qualities. It made the characters seem more real than just shapes. I also really enjoyed the story line if this book. i liked how it was kind of a fairy tale. It was kind of a fairy tale because it has monarchs and different ranks of nobility. it is also kind of like a science fiction/futuristic book  because A. Square travels to different dimensions.      

 

summary of Flatland

    

Flatland is narrated by a square named A. Square. A. Square lives in a world called flatland which is a two dimensional world. In this world women are straight lines and men are polygons. The men sides are based on their rank in society. The working men are called equilateral triangles. The more noble men are polygons with a bunch of sides. In a dream A. Square travels to this world called Lineland. In Lineland the people there are points on a line. Lineland is a one dimensional world. The people there can only A. Square as four points on a line instead of a square. While he is there he tries to convince the monarch of Lineland that there is a two dimensional world called Flatland. The monarch decides to kill A. Square because he doesn't want to listen to A. Squares nonsense anymore.  He later travels to another world called Spaceland. Spaceland is a three dimensional world. the people there are three dimensional shapes. A.Square can only see the sphere that is showing him around as a circle not as a sphere. The people there are only able to see A. Square as a flat shape not a three dimensional cube. When he returns back to Flatland tries to convince the people of Flatland that there is a three dimensional world. He eventually gets arrested because talking about a three dimensional world is forbidden. A. Square is thrown in jail. While he is in jail he is with his brother B. Square. He writes the book called Flatland where he tells his story.

The Dimensions talked about in Flatland

There are three dimensions talked about throughout Flatland. 

Flatland 

Flatland is a two-dimensional world. In this world the people can only move forward back and side to side. They cant go up or down. They are a flat surface moving on a flat surface. the people of the world are flat shapes. the men are polygons with the number of sides depending on their rank in society. The women are flat, straight lines. They have no shape at all. 

Lineland 

Lineland is a one-dimensional world. In this world the people are points on a line. When A. Square was in line land the people could only see A. Square as four points not an actual square. He was trying to convince the people of Lineand that there was a two dimensional world. 

Spaceland

Spaceland is a three-dimensional world where the people are actual 3D shapes. When A.Square appears in this world he can only see the front part of the sphere showing him around. The people of Spaceland can see a.Square as a shape but not a 3D shape. As A. Square is moving around Spaceland he begins to see the whole shape of the sphere. 

What was going on in history in 1884

There were many things going on in history during 1884. One major thing was the creation of the Fabian Society. 

The Fabian Society 

The Fabian Society was founded in 184 London. It was a democratic socialist group. This group layed the foundation for the British Labour Party. this group was founded on January 4, 1884. it was formed as an offshoot of The Fellowship of The New Life society which was founded in 1883. Members of the Fellowship included John Davidson and Edward Carpenter who were poets. their goal was to transform society by creating a clean simplified living. The Fabian society was crated because of the members wanted to become politically involved to help better society. The members were welcome to be apart of both societys. The Fellowship of the New Life disbanded in 1891. The Fabian Society was named after the roman general named Fabius Maximus. Maximus encouraged tactics that involved harassment. the Fabian society is still in existence today.  There are many members of the Fabian society one including Barack Obama. 

About the Author

Flatland is written by Edwin A. Abbott.

Edwin A. Abbott was born in the town of Middlesex, England on December 20, 1838.  He was the son of Jane Abbott and Edwin Abbott. His mother, Jane, was the first cousin of his father. He went to school at the City of London school. He went to college at St. Johns college in Cambridge. He was the senior class medalist and he was also elected fellowship at the university. In 1861 he was ordained a deacon and became a priest in 1863.  He fell in love with Mary Elizabeth Rangly form Unstone, Derbyshire. He resigned from fellowship in 1863 to marry her. They had one son and one daughter. He went on to teach at King Edwards school after leaving Cambridge. After teaching at King Edwards he went on to teach at Clifton College. Later he was made headmaster at the City of London school. He was headmaster there for 24 years. He retired in 1889 at the age of 50. he retired so he could focus more time on his writing. 

He wrote many books on English. He was also an expert on Sir Francis Bacon. He published one book oon Bacon and wrote the introduction for Bacons Essays. Abbotts most famous book was Flatland. he write this book under a pseudonym, which was A. Square.

Edwin. A. Abbott died in his home of influenza in 1926. He was buried in Hampstead cemetery.