文档介绍：Flatland
Flatland
by Edwin A. Abbott 1884
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Flatland
PART 1
THIS WORLD
SECTION 1 Of the Nature of Flatland
I call our world Flatland, not because we call it so, but to make its
nature clearer to you, my happy readers, who are privileged to live in
Space.
Imagine a vast sheet of paper on which straight Lines, Triangles,
Squares, Pentagons, Hexagons, and other figures, instead of remaining
fixed in their places, move freely about, on or in the surface, but without
the power of rising above or sinking below it, very much like shadows--
only hard with luminous edges--and you will then have a pretty correct
notion of my country and countrymen. Alas, a few years ago, I should
have said "my universe:" but now my mind has been opened to higher
views of things. In such a country, you will perceive at once that it is
impossible that there should be anything of what you call a "solid" kind;
but I dare say you will suppose that we could at least distinguish by sight
the Triangles, Squares, and other figures, moving about as I have
described them. On the contrary, we could see nothing of the kind, not at
least so as to distinguish one figure from another. Nothing was visible, nor
could be visible, to us, except Straight Lines; and the necessity of this I
will speedily demonstrate.
Place a penny on the middle of one of your tables in Space; and
leaning over it, look down upon it. It will appear a circle.
But now, drawing back to the edge of the table, gradually lower your
eye (thus bringing yourself more and more into the condition of the
inhabitants of Flatland), and you will find the penny ing more and
more oval to your view, and at last when you have placed your eye exactly
on the edge of the table (so that you are, as it were, actually a Flatlander)
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Flatland
the penny will then have ceased to appear oval at all, and will have
e, so far as you can see, a straight line.
The same thing would happen if you were to treat in the sam