Scientific Romances (First Series)Hinton, Charles Howard
Philosophy
Scientific Romances (First Series)
Hinton, Charles Howard
Fourth dimension
So a being in four dimensions could look at and touch every point of a
solid figure. No one part would hide another, for he would look at each
part from a direction which is perfectly different from any in which it
is possible to pass from one part of the body to another. To pass from
one part of the body to another it is necessary to move in three
directions, but a creature in four dimensions would look at the solid
from a direction which is none of these three.
Let us obtain a few facts about the fourth figure, proceeding according
to the analogy that exists between 1, 2, 3, and 4. In the Fig. 1 there
are two points. In 2 there are four points—the four corners of the
square. In 3 there are eight points. In the next figure, proceeding
according to the same law, there would be sixteen points.
In the Fig. 1 there is one line. In the square there are four lines. In
the cube there are twelve lines. How many lines would there be in the
four-square? That is to say that there are three numbers—1, 4, and 12.
What is the fourth, going on accordingly to the same law?
To answer this question let us trace out in more detail how the figures
change into one another. The line, to become the square, moves; it
occupies first of all its original position, and last of all its final
position. It starts as A B, and ends as C D; thus the line appears
twice, or it is doubled. The two other lines in the square, A C, B D,
are formed by the motions of the points at the extremities of the moving
line. Thus, in passing from the straight line to the square the lines
double themselves, and each point traces out a line. If the same
procedure holds good in the case of the change of the square into the
cube, we ought in the cube to have double the number of lines as in the
square—that is eight—and every point in the square ought to become a
line. As there are four points in the square, we should have four lines
in the cube from them, that is, adding to the previous eight, there
should be twelve lines in the cube. This is obviously the case. Hence we
may with confidence, to deduce the number of lines in a four-square,
apply this rule. _Double the number of lines in the previous figure, and
add as many lines as there are points in the previous figure._ Now in
the cube there are twelve lines and eight points. Hence we get 2 × 12 +
8, or thirty-two lines in the four-square.
In the same way any other question about the four-square can be
answered. We must throw aside our realising power and answer in
accordance with the analogy to be worked out from the three figures we
know.
Thus, if we want to know how many plane surfaces the four-square has, we
must commence with the line, which has none; the square has one; the
cube has six. Here we get the three numbers, 0, 1, and 6. What is the
fourth?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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