Flatland: A Romance of Many DimensionsAbbott, Edwin Abbott
Science
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions
Abbott, Edwin Abbott
Fourth dimension
I. An eye in my inside! An eye in my stomach! Your Lordship jests.
STRANGER. I am in no jesting humour. I tell you that I come from
Space, or, since you will not understand what Space means, from the
Land of Three Dimensions whence I but lately looked down upon your
Plane which you call Space forsooth. From that position of advantage I
discerned all that you speak of as SOLID (by which you mean "enclosed
on four sides"), your houses, your churches, your very chests and
safes, yes even your insides and stomachs, all lying open and exposed
to my view.
I. Such assertions are easily made, my Lord.
STRANGER. But not easily proved, you mean. But I mean to prove mine.
When I descended here, I saw your four Sons, the Pentagons, each in his
apartment, and your two Grandsons the Hexagons; I saw your youngest
Hexagon remain a while with you and then retire to his room, leaving
you and your Wife alone. I saw your Isosceles servants, three in
number, in the kitchen at supper, and the little Page in the scullery.
Then I came here, and how do you think I came?
I. Through the roof, I suppose.
STRANGER. Not so. Your roof, as you know very well, has been recently
repaired, and has no aperture by which even a Woman could penetrate. I
tell you I come from Space. Are you not convinced by what I have told
you of your children and household?
I. Your Lordship must be aware that such facts touching the belongings
of his humble servant might be easily ascertained by any one in the
neighbourhood possessing your Lordship's ample means of obtaining
information.
STRANGER. (TO HIMSELF.) What must I do? Stay; one more argument
suggests itself to me. When you see a Straight Line--your wife, for
example--how many Dimensions do you attribute to her?
I. Your Lordship would treat me as if I were one of the vulgar who,
being ignorant of Mathematics, suppose that a Woman is really a
Straight Line, and only of One Dimension. No, no, my Lord; we Squares
are better advised, and are as well aware as your Lordship that a
Woman, though popularly called a Straight Line, is, really and
scientifically, a very thin Parallelogram, possessing Two Dimensions,
like the rest of us, viz., length and breadth (or thickness).
STRANGER. But the very fact that a Line is visible implies that it
possesses yet another Dimension.
I. My Lord, I have just acknowledged that a Woman is broad as well as
long. We see her length, we infer her breadth; which, though very
slight, is capable of measurement.
STRANGER. You do not understand me. I mean that when you see a Woman,
you ought--besides inferring her breadth--to see her length, and to SEE
what we call her HEIGHT; although that last Dimension is infinitesimal
in your country. If a Line were mere length without "height", it would
cease to occupy Space and would become invisible. Surely you must
recognize this?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account