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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
داستان درباره یک دنیای دوبعدی است که طبیعتا در آن ارتفاع و حجم وجود ندارد و ساکنان آن، اشکالی هندسی چون خط، مثلت، مربع و غیره هستند. کتاب از دو بخش تشکیل شده و در هر بخش، یک مربع راوی داستان است.
او در بخش اول کتاب به احوالات این دنیای دو بعدی و ساکنان آن می‌پردازد؛ این دنیا دارای جامعه‌ای است که اشراف در آن قدرت را در دست دارند و ظاهر، حرف اول و آخر را در رسیدن به مدارج بالای اشرافی می‌زند. در این جامعه، صرف نظر از طبقه اجتماعی، زنان همیشه خط هستند و کم‌ارزش‌ترین افراد. پس از آنان، مردانی که مثلث‌های متساوی‌الساقین هستند کم‌اعتبارترین افرادند و هرچه زاویه حاده‌شان کوچکتر باشد کم‌ارز‌ش‌ترند؛ اما با ازدواج با زنان دارای شجره‌نامه مناسب، مردان نسل بعدی زاویه‌شان بهبود می‌یابد تا اینکه پس از ده‌ها یا شاید صدها نسل، سرانجام مثلث متساوی‌الاضلاع شوند که نسل بعدی آن هم یک مربع خواهد شد و از آن پس هر نسلی که می‌گذرد یک ضلعش بیشتر می‌شود (پنج‌ضلعی، شش‌ضلعی و غیره). دایره‌ها بالاترین طبقات اشرافند و رهبران و کاهنان جامعه از این طبقه هستند.
در بخش دوم کتاب، مربع از شرح بازدیدش از سرزمین لاین‌لند (سرزمین خط‌ها) که ساکنانش تنها خط و نقطه بودند و نیز دیدار از سرزمین اسپیس‌لند (سرزمین سه‌بعدی) می‌گوید و اینکه چگونه به ناگهان تمام جهان‌بینی و درکش از جهان هستی عوض شده و به عمق ناآگاهی‌اش پی می‌برد.
نویسنده این کتاب، ادوین ابوت، در بیش از صدوسی سال پیش با استفاده از مفاهیم پایه ریاضی و هندسه، روایت دلنشین و در عین حال تکان‌دهنده‌ای ساخته که نادانی ما از جهان فعلی‌مان را به خوبی نشان داده و با روشی مبتکرانه پرسش‌هایی بنیادین را در ذهن خواننده ایجاد می‌کند. همچنین طعنه‌هایش به قوانین و شرایط ناعادلانه روزگار خودش و اشراف آن دوران (که حتی امروزه هم مصداق دارند) را به زیبایی بیان کرده‌است. برگردان فارسی این کتاب از منوچهر انور با نام پَختِستان بدست نشر کارنامه چاپ شده است؛ واژه پختستان به معنی سرزمین مسطح است.
او در بخش اول کتاب به احوالات این دنیای دو بعدی و ساکنان آن می‌پردازد؛ این دنیا دارای جامعه‌ای است که اشراف در آن قدرت را در دست دارند و ظاهر، حرف اول و آخر را در رسیدن به مدارج بالای اشرافی می‌زند. در این جامعه، صرف نظر از طبقه اجتماعی، زنان همیشه خط هستند و کم‌ارزش‌ترین افراد. پس از آنان، مردانی که مثلث‌های متساوی‌الساقین هستند کم‌اعتبارترین افرادند و هرچه زاویه حاده‌شان کوچکتر باشد کم‌ارز‌ش‌ترند؛ اما با ازدواج با زنان دارای شجره‌نامه مناسب، مردان نسل بعدی زاویه‌شان بهبود می‌یابد تا اینکه پس از ده‌ها یا شاید صدها نسل، سرانجام مثلث متساوی‌الاضلاع شوند که نسل بعدی آن هم یک مربع خواهد شد و از آن پس هر نسلی که می‌گذرد یک ضلعش بیشتر می‌شود (پنج‌ضلعی، شش‌ضلعی و غیره). دایره‌ها بالاترین طبقات اشرافند و رهبران و کاهنان جامعه از این طبقه هستند.
در بخش دوم کتاب، مربع از شرح بازدیدش از سرزمین لاین‌لند (سرزمین خط‌ها) که ساکنانش تنها خط و نقطه بودند و نیز دیدار از سرزمین اسپیس‌لند (سرزمین سه‌بعدی) می‌گوید و اینکه چگونه به ناگهان تمام جهان‌بینی و درکش از جهان هستی عوض شده و به عمق ناآگاهی‌اش پی می‌برد.
نویسنده این کتاب، ادوین ابوت، در بیش از صدوسی سال پیش با استفاده از مفاهیم پایه ریاضی و هندسه، روایت دلنشین و در عین حال تکان‌دهنده‌ای ساخته که نادانی ما از جهان فعلی‌مان را به خوبی نشان داده و با روشی مبتکرانه پرسش‌هایی بنیادین را در ذهن خواننده ایجاد می‌کند. همچنین طعنه‌هایش به قوانین و شرایط ناعادلانه روزگار خودش و اشراف آن دوران (که حتی امروزه هم مصداق دارند) را به زیبایی بیان کرده‌است. برگردان فارسی این کتاب از منوچهر انور با نام پَختِستان بدست نشر کارنامه چاپ شده است؛ واژه پختستان به معنی سرزمین مسطح است.
Excuse the cussing, but what the hell did I just read? This was dreadful and I don't know why I didn't mark it DNF. Oh, wait. Yes, I do. I didn't mark it as DNF because some sick part of my brain wouldn't let me walk away. Apparently, I can handle bizarre mathematical fiction more than I can poor grammar. Who knew?
This is one of my favourite books. I read it after reading [b:Warped Passages|68013|Warped Passages Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions|Lisa Randall|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170684385s/68013.jpg|65942], expecting a book that would help me think about higher dimensions. What I got was a book about geometry that also serves as a scathing satire on Victorian society, as well as an insight into how people (or squares) with revolutionary ideas are treated. Having finished the book, I started to think about the world afresh, and I just wish more people were aware of it.
funny
informative
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Mixed feelings
So on the surface, it’s a tale of a 2D shape who finds himself meeting a 3D shape. There is some insight that it’s a looking into classism of the time (late 1800s). It is also pointed out that this book came in at a time before Newton and other mathematical gurus. Their is talk that the book is an excuse to discuss misogyny but using shapes instead of people. Well, the one thing I can sure about is: I’m not smart enough to make a determination on any of the conjectures I read about related to this book
So on the surface, it’s a tale of a 2D shape who finds himself meeting a 3D shape. There is some insight that it’s a looking into classism of the time (late 1800s). It is also pointed out that this book came in at a time before Newton and other mathematical gurus. Their is talk that the book is an excuse to discuss misogyny but using shapes instead of people. Well, the one thing I can sure about is: I’m not smart enough to make a determination on any of the conjectures I read about related to this book
A strange book, is it science fiction, a math book or someone's bad dream? Or maybe all three? In Flatland there are only two dimensions. The narrator, a Flatlander, is visited by a foreigner from the lands of three dimensions who tells him there is more to the universe than what he and all Flatlanders believe to be everything. In Flatland there are people, they are of course flat, the men are figures and the women are lines. Sounds sexist, it is a very old book written in another time. The male figures have status based on the number of sides and angles in their shape. A triangle is on the bottom, the highest status figures have so many angles that they are nearly circles. These are the kings and priests of flatland. Our narrator has a dream where he is transported to a land of one dimension, a land of lines, Lineland, then he goes to another dimension, a land of no dimensions, Pointland. I heard about this book in high school. A friend was reading it, I think as an extra credit assignment for a math class. He was in a high level math than I was. It didn't interest me at the time. I would say this is really a math book. It is all about Geometry and other math concepts. It is very hard to try to imagine a two dimensional world. Perhaps that is the point of the book.
Mind boggling. I got to the end and am now trying to picture the forth dimension, which is proving fruitless. This was a genius way of explaining dimensions and showcasing the limitations that we often put ourselves into due to ignorance. And the parts about women really opened my eyes to the ignorance of the past where women really were seen as less than. If you want to challenge your brain a bit definitely read this! I’m going to google what the forth dimension looks like now
Another book I listened to this weekend was Flatland. I've wanted to read it for some time and last week Science Friday picked it as their Summer Book Club Read of the Month. This motivated me to finally read it. The nice thing about classics is that they are easy to find in the Public Domain: Project Gutenberg, Librivox, and others. I found my copy through Librivox (and I've also started volunteering as a reader for them).
The first section of the book surprised me because it was very harsh towards women. I told my wife that it might be satire, but it was some of the worst satire I had read because it was so harsh. I've read a little satire and I really enjoyed Gulliver's Travels, Alice in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass, and Animal Farm. The satire in those others was funny, but here it was just so unapparent that the book seemed mean or harsh. It is supposed to be satire of the Victorian Era and especially how women and the priesthood were treated and if the satire is even fractionally correct then I understand the neglect of women and the need for the suffrage and women's rights movements all the more, but for me at least I had to be told it was satire it was not apparent.
After the world of Flatland is setup then the square telling the story visits Lineland in a dream (a world of 1 dimension). After failing to get the king of Lineland to understand the 2nd dimension he wakes up from the dream where he encounters the same problem where he is now the shortsighted one. A Sphere from Spaceland comes and talks to the Square and eventually takes him to Spaceland where he can enjoy 3 dimensions. Later they together visit Flatland and Pointland (a land of no dimensions with one inhabitant). The square also inquires to the existence of extra dimensions beyond that which were not recognized in 1884 when the book was written. In 1905 Albert Einstein suggested that time was the 4th dimension and that we live in space-time. It was later that this idea was compared to the book Flatland and the book became popular again. Now of course, with theories like String Theory that surmise we live in a Universe with even more than 4 dimensions (all versions require at least 10 and up to 26 dimensions) the idea that there are dimensions we can imagine and mathematically calculate, but probably can never conceptually understand is an important lesson to learn- even if it turns out that String Theories are incorrect.
The really nerdy will call this classic a work of mathematical fiction rather than science fiction. To be honest part one is really slow and it hard to get through especially since the culture being parodied is far enough removed from us, and furthermore the humor in the satire is lacking which just makes it sad. But if you can make it to part 2 the book is well worth the read (and to be honest if you started at part 2 you would follow most of it except the layout of this house and the hierarchies in his societies politics). I'm glad to have read the classic, but it is not one that I will return to again.
The first section of the book surprised me because it was very harsh towards women. I told my wife that it might be satire, but it was some of the worst satire I had read because it was so harsh. I've read a little satire and I really enjoyed Gulliver's Travels, Alice in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass, and Animal Farm. The satire in those others was funny, but here it was just so unapparent that the book seemed mean or harsh. It is supposed to be satire of the Victorian Era and especially how women and the priesthood were treated and if the satire is even fractionally correct then I understand the neglect of women and the need for the suffrage and women's rights movements all the more, but for me at least I had to be told it was satire it was not apparent.
After the world of Flatland is setup then the square telling the story visits Lineland in a dream (a world of 1 dimension). After failing to get the king of Lineland to understand the 2nd dimension he wakes up from the dream where he encounters the same problem where he is now the shortsighted one. A Sphere from Spaceland comes and talks to the Square and eventually takes him to Spaceland where he can enjoy 3 dimensions. Later they together visit Flatland and Pointland (a land of no dimensions with one inhabitant). The square also inquires to the existence of extra dimensions beyond that which were not recognized in 1884 when the book was written. In 1905 Albert Einstein suggested that time was the 4th dimension and that we live in space-time. It was later that this idea was compared to the book Flatland and the book became popular again. Now of course, with theories like String Theory that surmise we live in a Universe with even more than 4 dimensions (all versions require at least 10 and up to 26 dimensions) the idea that there are dimensions we can imagine and mathematically calculate, but probably can never conceptually understand is an important lesson to learn- even if it turns out that String Theories are incorrect.
The really nerdy will call this classic a work of mathematical fiction rather than science fiction. To be honest part one is really slow and it hard to get through especially since the culture being parodied is far enough removed from us, and furthermore the humor in the satire is lacking which just makes it sad. But if you can make it to part 2 the book is well worth the read (and to be honest if you started at part 2 you would follow most of it except the layout of this house and the hierarchies in his societies politics). I'm glad to have read the classic, but it is not one that I will return to again.