Rating: 
Summary: An Excellent Read
Review: Even if you hated geometry class, you will love this book.
Rating:
Summary: ...your world view will change
Review: Yes, even though it is truly about math, this is a most wonderfully humane and insightful book. And thanks to Dover Thrifts, there is something besides long distance you can buy for [the price]! :-)My grandmother was a (gifted) math teacher in a Massachusetts high school, and she used to assign both "Flatland" and "Through the Looking Glass" for extra-credit to her brightest students. Those who went for it discovered vibrant harmonies between principles in their textbooks and how they would inhabit reality as people. Who could ask for more...?
Rating: 
Summary: Yea....
Review: This was a good morsel in the midst of my newest interests...chaos, quantum mechanics, sacred geometry, etc...if you enjoy numbers and thinking hard - it is a good read. Reading for everyday pleasure may be disappointing.
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Summary: ...1 dimension, 2 dimensions, 3 dimensions, ... n dimensions
Review: Flatland is Edwin A. Abbott's depiction of A. Square's (the story's narrator) odyssey though the spaces of many dimensions. It was written in Victorian England and is a very stylized piece. The book is divided into two parts. In Part I of the book Abbott describes Flatland and particularly its social structure in a satirical nature (akin to Animal Farm). Part II of the book is where the more mathematical and geometrical concepts are expounded upon. This section of the book is also written in the spirit of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. A. Square (analogous to Alice) ventures back and forth through Pointland (no dimensions), Lineland (one dimension), Flatland (two dimensions), and Spaceland (three dimensions). A. Square even eventually speculates the appearance of the inhabitants of a land composed of four dimensions! Flatland will appeal to both mathematicians and lay people alike. If you are curious about dimensionality and the world in which we live, and would like to see it presented in a playful and charismatic manner, then Flatland is the book for you. Although initially taken at face value, Flatland is very deep and fully of many hidden mathematical and satirical jokes waiting to be discovered by its readers (again similar to Alice in Wonderland). Furthermore, Abbott's style tends to be very wordy. To that end, his sentences are jammed packed with ideas. These final two aspects of the book may deem a reread useful. Nonetheless, Abbott blesses us with phrases such as "dimensionable Dimensionality," "Thoughtland," "Spacious Space," and perfect perfection." Brilliant! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
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Summary: A Mathematical and Social Fantasy
Review: Much has been said about how Edwin Abbott's "Flatland" is a fun and thought-provoking mathematical fiction novel, introducing readers to dimensionality by personifying geometrical shapes. As a high school math teacher, I first read it planning on using it in my class to teach geometry. However, almost as interesting and its mathematical observations are its metaphors and, in my opinion, satires of Abbott's 19th century society. All inhabitants of the novel's world, dubbed Flatland, are polygons, the narrator being a square. Flatland features a strict caste system, with a polygon's class being determined by his number of sides. A square is higher on the social order than a triangle, for example, yet lower than a pentagon. The rulers, or priests, are circles. Well, actually they are polygons with very many sides, approximating a circle. The lowest figures in Flatland are women, who are straight lines. One can interpret this fictional social order in a number of ways, including accusing Abbott of being classist and sexist. I happen to see this as a critique, even a satire, of our (spaceland's) social order, replete with classism and sexism. "Flatland" also spoofs eugenics and political short-sightedness, so there's plenty to choose from. After introducing Flatland's social order, the narrator describes a journey he takes to lineland and spaceland, which offers a great way of looking at dimensionality, even for mathematics laypersons. I'd advise reading it slowly or even more than once to be sure your mind grasps all the interesting narrative and dialogue. Mixing a clever introduction of mathematical concepts with an element of social satire, "Flatland" is well worth reading, even for those who are normally averse to anything that has to do with mathematics. While I still plan on using this novel to teach geometry, perhaps I'll also infuse some social justice issues into my lessons.
Rating:
Summary: A good, short read.. give it a shot..
Review: I can see this book being interesting to two types of people. First, the book is based on geometrical concepts to create a vision of Flatland. The descriptions of how to visualize different dimensions and the question of higher dimensions are simply explained. I believe someone who knows nothing about math would find the explanation satisfactory. Second, the book is a satire of Victorian society. It's important to remember that the author does not actually think women are inferior, just that he is mocking the world around him. I also found an interesting passage where the author describes how the inhabitants of the southern latitudes (e.g., Africa) are savages because their air inhibits the ability to distinguish shapes. This compares to the northern latitudes (i.e., London) where fog allows better sight. Trust me, it will make sense when you read it. This is just one of the examples of satire in the book. I thought the book was excellent and can easily be read in a few hours. Plus, it costs a buck..
Rating: 
Summary: One-dimensional characters in a two-dimensional world
Review: Abbott's math fantasy Flatland is more than 120 years old, and that alone makes it an interesting reading for people interested in geometry. Written in a time before the age of relativity and quantum mechanics, Flatland explores a two-dimensional world inhabited by geometrical shapes.
The math is pretty easy and people with a solid math background won't learn anything new, but Flatland is still interesting. Not so much the story, which is about A. Square's (main character) introduction to a third dimension by a character called Sphere.
Besides the math, the sociogram of the Victorian times are amusing. Soldiers are considered to be very dull people, but still worse are women, who have no brains and memory whatsoever. I read somewhere that Abbott wanted to satirize the sexism of the times, but that is not so obvious while reading the book.
The book is followed by Burger's Sphereland, a sequel written 80 years later. Sphereland explored further the mysteries of Flatland. Women have brains now, but they still don't have much to say, and have to behave like good housewives. Burger should have known better, but 1960 was still some years before Women's Lib...
Could have been a lot more interesting if there were no characters but just plain math and more illustrations. For people who want to understand how Universes expand and to get a more realistic view about dimensions, I suggest to read Stephen Hawking's 'A Brief History Of Time'.
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Summary: MANY-VIEWS-LAND
Review: Most reader-reviewers were equally amazed on first reading Abbott's Flatland. But the point of the book is lost within all the excited verbiage. The point Abbott attempted was to show one's physical world (in however many dimensions) need not limit one's view of such world. The point was partially spoiled by lifting A Square out of his Flatland into Sphereland where A Square then magically developed the 3-D vision that real humans come equipped with. This should not have been the case--Square's vision should have remained the same as it was in Flatland. The main aspect of the Flatland story is that the brain is able to supersede information presented to it by the crude senses. Square was willing to go to prison to stay loyal to his intellectual knowledge. His Flatland jailers would always stay true to their visual sense data. The illustrations for zero, one and two dimensions are now a bit outmoded. With string theory the little one dimensional loops of vibrating energy (said to compose the zoo of sub-atomic particles) are woven together to produce not only the second and third dimension but also the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th dimensions. Alas, there is no theory to support Abbott's Pointland of zero dimensions--this sounds like a spiritual concept. A modern day Abbott is needed to elucidate string theory for the man on the street. The two dreams A Square had, revealing the narrowness of the perspectives in Lineland and Pointland, were the most interesting part of the story. As he slept A Square's brain was in contact with the Matrix Data Base that showed him how adamantly the inhabitants of Lineland and Pointland clung to their simple perspectives. Thus, A Square saw the futility of maintaining his Flatland point of view.
Rating:
Summary: Applied mathematics in fable
Review: Abbot has a commanding style as he weaves a tale using geometry to challenge the way people view the world. Through a cunning use of analogy, though admittedly more suited to a younger, school-age audience, he challenges the way people view the world, urging them to be more open-minded and less narrow-minded, or "flat," in their view of events around them. He also obliquely deals with the antagonism between the sexes, somewhat outmoded in today's culture, as well as the resistance of society in accepting new ideas and the power of government to corral the thoughts and images available to the public.
Rating:
Summary: Decent :)
Review: Back in the nineteenth century, the book was described both as being "fascinating" and "mortally tedious". I can see how both apply. For the most part, the book is amusing. It follows the world of A. Square who is, as his name indicates, a square. The first section of the book describes the world of the square, Flatland. The inhabitants range from the women who are straight lines, to the working isosceles triangles to the grand priest, a polygon of a great many sizes that he appears as a circle. The society boasts of a strict hierarchy where figures of greater sides are thought as smarter and better than the rest. The book describes how the shapes recognize each other. The book even goes into detail about a social upheaval where colour was introduced. If any section could be described as tedious, this part would be. However, picturing the actual society was indeed, very entertaining and amusing but at times, certain facts seemed insignifcant. The second half of the book devotes itself to describing the discovery of other dimensions by A. Square and the consequences of him trying to attempt to explain these discoveries to his world. This part of the book would be the part considered prophetic and charming. First, A. Square stumbles upon one dimensional world. Then accompanying a sphere, he visits a third dimensional world and then a zero dimensional world (a point). Through his discoveries, he even contemplates universes of higher dimensions, the fourth and the fifth and so forth. Eventually his efforts to spread the knowledge end in vain with social ostracization. The book truly shines in the detail of its description of the different worlds. In language, it could be described as somewhat bland, and stiffnecked but the worlds it describes are truly fascinating. Plus this book is a classic sci-fi and if you ever want to read more about hyperspace and so forth, many non-fiction books refer to Flatland.
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