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23rd out of 44 books
—
26 voters
Flatterland: Like Flatland Only More So
by
Ian Stewart
First there was Edwin A. Abbott's remarkable Flatland, published in 1884, and one of the all-time classics of popular mathematics. Now, from mathematician and accomplished science writer Ian Stewart, comes what Nature calls "a superb sequel." Through larger-than-life characters and an inspired story line, Flatterland explores our present understanding of the shape and orig...more
Paperback, 320 pages
Published
April 18th 2002
by Basic Books
(first published 2001)
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Jun 07, 2007
Richard
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
people interested in science and maths
I heard about this book from a friend who is a freelance proof reader. She'd read it and admitted that most of it had gone straight over her head. However she did recommend it highly.
I picked up a copy at the same time as Flatland and read the two books one after the other.
Whereas the first book was about a flat being being shown life in three dimensions, Flatterland shows the adventures of a person being taken into a world of many non-euclidian dimensions. The space it talks about is often well...more
I picked up a copy at the same time as Flatland and read the two books one after the other.
Whereas the first book was about a flat being being shown life in three dimensions, Flatterland shows the adventures of a person being taken into a world of many non-euclidian dimensions. The space it talks about is often well...more
This was entertaining and educational, but it wasn't really a work of fiction. It was a long parable illustrating fascinating ideas about geometry. Very well-written and thought provoking, but there was no actual story.
I've always loved Kurt Vonnegut's succinct and brilliant advice to would-be crafters of fiction: "All your characters must want something, even if it's only a glass of water." The characters here don't want much of anything, other than to be used as tools by the author to illustr...more
I've always loved Kurt Vonnegut's succinct and brilliant advice to would-be crafters of fiction: "All your characters must want something, even if it's only a glass of water." The characters here don't want much of anything, other than to be used as tools by the author to illustr...more
Absolutely lovely book.
I learned so much at the time.
Don't know what was retained, though.
Amazon.com Review
In 1884, an amiably eccentric clergyman and literary scholar named Edwin Abbott Abbott published an odd philosophical novel called Flatland, in which he explored such things as four-dimensional mathematics and gently satirized some of the orthodoxies of his time. The book went on to be a bestseller in Victorian England, and it has remained in print ever since.
With Flatterland, Ian Stewart,...more
I learned so much at the time.
Don't know what was retained, though.
Amazon.com Review
In 1884, an amiably eccentric clergyman and literary scholar named Edwin Abbott Abbott published an odd philosophical novel called Flatland, in which he explored such things as four-dimensional mathematics and gently satirized some of the orthodoxies of his time. The book went on to be a bestseller in Victorian England, and it has remained in print ever since.
With Flatterland, Ian Stewart,...more
Based off of the Book "Flatland" written by Edward A. Abbott, one of my all-time favorites, i stumbled upon this book scavenging the library. Curious, i checked it out and began to read. The main character, Victoria Line, is the great great granddaughter of the main character of the original book, Albert Square. A main difference between the two books is the obvious time-periods in which the books were written. "Flatland" was written in 1884 and the language was often difficult, but this book, h...more
A cute sequel to Edwin Abbott Abbott's educational classic 'Flatland'. Stewart picks up the story with Vicky Line, a granddaughter of the visionary A. Square from the original. Living in a more liberal, hippie-like time than her grandfather, she finds his old diary. Although her parents forbid her to indulge in those absurd ideas that got her ancestor imprisoned, she cannot resist youthful curiousity. Like her grandfather, she is also visited by a creature from a higher dimension, this time not...more
I used Flatland and the first few chapters of this book when I taught Calculus. :)
The first half of this book was 4 stars, no question. About the time it got into the theory of general relativity, it started zipping along way too fast and lost the storyline. The fun mathematical playfulness turned into an infodump with reeeeeallly bad math jokes. Really, really bad math jokes. Indescribably bad math jokes.
That said, I loved the first half. The book suffered for having been written almost 12 year...more
The first half of this book was 4 stars, no question. About the time it got into the theory of general relativity, it started zipping along way too fast and lost the storyline. The fun mathematical playfulness turned into an infodump with reeeeeallly bad math jokes. Really, really bad math jokes. Indescribably bad math jokes.
That said, I loved the first half. The book suffered for having been written almost 12 year...more
Stewart is far too pleased with his own jokes and can't write dialogue for shit, even allowing for the limits the subject matter places on the narrative. That narrative often obscures that subject matter unnecessarily, as well; if I hadn't already been familiar with pretty much everything covered, I doubt I would have had the patience to tease meaning from his prose.
If you have more patience than I do, though, I guess Flatterland is a fine enough introduction to non-Euclidian geometries, the var...more
If you have more patience than I do, though, I guess Flatterland is a fine enough introduction to non-Euclidian geometries, the var...more
A worthy "sequel" to Flatland, explores dimensions and peoples that ol' Edwin Abbott couldn't have dreamed of back in 1884. This book, by a mathematician scientist, truly captures the essence of the perspective shattering style of Abbot, although it lacks much of Flatland's sweeping social statement. Regardless, this is a laudable follow-up to one of my favorite books. Be sure to read it (after reading Flatland, naturally).
This is not a perfect homage to Abbott's Flatland. If you go in thinking that, you will find it to be an abomination. There is a tape recorder in the first pages! You can't have a tape recorder in flatland! Even though I love Ian Stewart I threw this book out the window and didn't go back for years...but then I did go back and did love it. Just don't compare Stewart's figurative Flatland to Abbott's very serious Flatland. Steward took some creative license and I got over it. The rest of the book...more
Flatterland succeeds in part as a sequel to Flatland. While Flatland succeeded as both a novel and a gateway to think mathematically, Flatterland only really succeeds mathematically. If you want to fully explore more ideas of geometry, then I would heartily recommend Flatterland. However, I would not expect to read a great novel at the same time. (By the way, one quirk with this book is that people's names are written as one word with only the first letter capitalized, i.e. Alberteinstein. This...more
The main issue I have with this book is that, in relation to the concepts presented, I found it 'too much, too soon'. While the themes themselves were extremely interesting, half of it flew over my head - there were just too many concepts, too many 'spaces', and too many theories to take in at once if you don't have some background knowledge on these topics already.
As far as the story telling goes, the main character is A. Square's granddaughter, which will continue his journey many years later....more
As far as the story telling goes, the main character is A. Square's granddaughter, which will continue his journey many years later....more
Paying homage to Edwin Abbott’s 1884 Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions, Flatterland: Like Flatland, Only More So tells the story of Victoria Line, the strong-willed great-great-granddaughter of the disgraced Albert Square, who is sent to the insane asylum after claiming to have been visited by a being from the Third Dimension. Vicki stumbles upon her ancestor’s writings by accident and then is swept up in an adventure of her own, traveling through mathematical worlds in a whirlwind tour rem...more
I almost didn't get through this. It starts off well, but then it turns into a dialogue. That would be fine, if not for the fact that the author periodically tries and fails to connect it back to the characters and the world of Flatland. Flatland the book is a political satire in addition to a scientific text; this book abandoned all but a shell of the politics while pretending it was still there. I would have rather had a book which didn't try to have a plot or characters, and did a better job...more
from Boffie for Christmas 2008
I read Flatland (everyone should), and it was about 100 pages of interesting mathematical/sociological critique, written in 1884 in the style of Jonathan Swift. There were significant differences in the Flatland societal strata among classes and between men and women. So I thought this book was going to be a novel expanding on those differences, just 100 years later.
Instead, it was a book about mathematics and physics 100 years later. And a lot has happened in mathe...more
I read Flatland (everyone should), and it was about 100 pages of interesting mathematical/sociological critique, written in 1884 in the style of Jonathan Swift. There were significant differences in the Flatland societal strata among classes and between men and women. So I thought this book was going to be a novel expanding on those differences, just 100 years later.
Instead, it was a book about mathematics and physics 100 years later. And a lot has happened in mathe...more
Nov 30, 2009
David
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to David by:
david-giltinan@sbcglobal.net
I have noticed people putting this on their "to read" shelves and wishlists. I hope they are not as disappointed as I was, but greatly fear that disappointment is likely, almost inevitable. For the reasons in my review below - "Flatland" is a hilarious romp, wittily and successfully executed. This book, with its oh-so-clunky title, is most emphatically not.
This book takes as its starting point Abbott's "Flatland", the quirky 19th century mathematical classic which imagines life in a 2-dimensio...more
This book takes as its starting point Abbott's "Flatland", the quirky 19th century mathematical classic which imagines life in a 2-dimensio...more
6 likes
·
like
· see review
A worthy sequel to Edwin A. Abbott's Flatland. The author continues the story - many generations later , adding feminism, quantum mechanics, string theory and so much more. The effort is enormous, but the ideas are so complicated that most will be lost. I hung in there as long as I could, but this subject matter is not an easy read. wonderful effort, but not for everyone
Like "The Phantom Toll Booth" for physics.
I keep thinking if I read enough of these books, I may begin to understand it. At least I recognize the words now.
I loved the song references in the last chapter or so. I like the play on words of scientists and others.
And it kept me feeling there's hope for the hopelessly confused, like me, about different physics theories.
I keep thinking if I read enough of these books, I may begin to understand it. At least I recognize the words now.
I loved the song references in the last chapter or so. I like the play on words of scientists and others.
And it kept me feeling there's hope for the hopelessly confused, like me, about different physics theories.
"Flatterland" walks you through modern mathematical theory, just like the 1884 "Flatland" did. Does a good job helping to simplify and visualize time/space & dimensions- all the way to quarks, wormholes, string theory and the shape of the universe. It may take a little more concentration than a normal pleasure book [not a good choice for multi-tasking:], but I enjoyed it.
This is a playful, mostly comprehensible exploration of non-Euclidean geometry, with some quantum physics thrown in, told as a sequel to Edwin Abbott's famous Victorian satire Flatland. As a story it's okay, but as a cheerful glimpse into how mathematicians think, it's a lot of fun, worth reading slowly and re-reading for further understanding.
Flatland is a classic which pushes the reader to think in physical dimensions beyond the typical 3. Flatterland is a sequel which, frankly, falls flat (forgive me). It uses mostly circular logic, and nifty math tricks to claim a controversial topic as proven and to deride critical thinkers.
I gave up on this book. It was an interesting premise. It was a world based on only two dimensions. Others have stated that they liked it and found it interesting, but it was too slow and the writing didn't appeal to me. I guess that among mathematicians, this book has a following.
A fun book. and as described by others a modern style that continues where the earlier book flatland took you. a little fut with perspective and math dabbling in science and how it has a funny view of reality we can't see but is still there.
Sep 08, 2009
David Markham
is currently reading it
This is a 21st century sequel to Abbot's Flatland. A real geek book. It explores environments based upon several types of geometries. It is a very breezy book, full of puns (mostly groaners) and contemporary jokes. Not higly recommended.
I found this to be a dull and poorly written attempt to be a sequel to Flatland. I'd recommend avoiding this and leaving Flatland and Sphereland as the only "canon" in this series.
The discussions of multiple dimensions, and treating multiple variables as "dimensions" was interesting, but I didn't discover anything really exciting, more just a different perspective.
The first half almost made me throw the book across the room since it was so mind-numbing. It really redeemed itself in the second half though and I'm glad I read this.
I loved Flatland. I love thinking about higher dimensions. This book is really good, but doesn't quite have the charm of Flatland.
Sep 28, 2012
Becky
is currently reading it
Wish it were as riveting as Abbott's. Slow going - pick it up infrequently, hoping for spark to ignite.
Excatly what the title says, and SO made of win. Read this when you study geometry. It'll make it fun.
This was a great quasi introduction to a lot of interesting mathematical and physical concepts. Although I knew most of the material already, the book presented everything in a really creative and enjoyable way. Note: this book is apparently not like flatland, in that flatland was more about social disparities between men and women in the victorian age, and flatterland was actually about math and physics.
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Ian Stewart is an Emeritus Professor and Digital Media Fellow in the Mathematics Department at Warwick University, with special responsibility for public awareness of mathematics and science. He is best known for his popular science writing on mathematical themes.
--from the author's website
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See other authors wit...more
More about Ian Stewart...
--from the author's website
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See other authors wit...more
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May 02, 2011 07:35am