Exploration and Discovery

Events

Abbott’s Flatland

Date: November 18, 3:30pm Location: Miller 105

Suppose you are on a spaceship and you take off from Earth.  You go past Mars, beyond Jupiter, and eventually leave the solar system.  You keep going and cruise past our nearest neighboring galaxy, Andromeda.  What happens if you keep going?  And going?  And after that?  And what has this got to do with Flatland?

Flatland offers pointed observations on the social hierarchy of Victorian culture. However, the novella’s more enduring contribution is its examination of dimensions.  As such, the novella is still popular amongst mathematics, physics, and computer science students.

Presented by: Liz Stanhope, Assistant Professor of Mathematical Sciences