It is part sci-fi, part satire, part philosophy, and part mathematics. This causes him to connect the uncomprehending ignorance of the Point, the king of Lineland, and the rulers of Flatland together with the sphere's astonishment at the thought of some dimension beyond Up. Later, he is imprisoned for this talk of a third dimension, and he dreams of himself and the sphere visiting Pointland, where the Point - monarch, sole inhabitant, and universe in one - is unable to perceive them as anything but his own thoughts. Suddenly understanding, he speculates that there may be dimensions beyond Spaceland, but the sphere is discomfited by this and returns him to Flatland, where he seems to just appear. Later, a sphere from Spaceland speaks to him, pokes his insides, and appears before him in his home, then carries him in an incomprehensibly new direction called 'up', where he is able to look down and see into houses and the insides of the other polygons. The square dreams one night about visiting Lineland, where there is only one dimension, and he tries and fails to explain his existence and that of a second dimension to its king. It's also a scathing dissection of Victorian class structures, of biological racism and eugenics, and of misogyny.

Square note Originally 'A Square', the indefinite article evolving to a first initial in later printings. The story takes place in a two-dimensional world made up of polygons, and is narrated by a square. Flatland: A Romance Of Many Dimensions is a 1884 satirical novella by Edwin A.

Flatland edwin