Monday, July 21, 2008

Flatland

I just finished reading Flatland, by Edwin A. Abbott. First published in 1884, this story of a two-dimensional world provides a subtle introduction to the concept of worlds with four or more dimensions. Beings in Flatland are lines, polygons, and spheres. I don't recall reading anything about the natural Flatland world. If Flatland could have Bézier curves the landscape might look like this —

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