Richard Laymon Same Vein

RATING:

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Review Source:

Flatterland by Ian Stewart

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.

In Flatterland, Vicki Line, the granddaughter of the adventurer in Flatland, is taken by a multidimensional being named Space Hopper to visit various mathematical places. But don't worry, you don't need to be a maths or science egghead to follow this wonderful tale.

Vicki is given a guided tour of modern mathematics and physics. She is educated in non-Euclidean geometry, fractals, topology, and other topics of mathematics...but in a really fun way! In physics, she learns about relativity, cosmology, and quantum theory. In each realm, Vicki meets and converses with its inhabitants. These inhabitants possess the characteristics of their realm and, along with SpaceHopper, become Vicki's mentors to help her understand a particular branch of mathematics.

The ideas brought up are so fascinating and cutting edge, and better still, they are explained in detail so that even the most complex concepts are easily understood. Maths and science has never been so much fun!

This book is clever, amusing, and perhaps even damn-near brilliant - just like the original.

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