Nationality English Name Edwin Abbott Occupation teacher, author Role Schoolmaster | Religion Christianity | |
Born 20 December 1838 ( 1838-12-20 ) Died October 12, 1926, London Borough of Camden, London, United Kingdom Movies Flatland: The Movie, Flatland Books Flatland, A Shakespearian grammar, Johannine grammar, St Thomas of Canterbury, The fourfold Gospel Similar People Ladd Ehlinger Jr, Jeffrey Travis, Seth Caplan | ||
Parents Jane Abbott, Edwin Abbott | ||
Flatland
Edwin Abbott Abbott, FBA (20 December 1838 – 12 October 1926) was an English schoolmaster and theologian, best known as the author of the novella Flatland (1884).
Contents
- Flatland
- Flatland a romance of many dimensions full audiobook by edwin abbott abbott by satire fiction
- Biography
- References
Flatland a romance of many dimensions full audiobook by edwin abbott abbott by satire fiction
Biography
Edwin Abbott Abbott was the eldest son of Edwin Abbott (1808–1882), headmaster of the Philological School, Marylebone, and his wife, Jane Abbott (1806–1882). His parents were first cousins.
He was educated at the City of London School and at St John's College, Cambridge, where he took the highest honours in classics, mathematics and theology, and became a fellow of his college. In particular, he was 1st Smith's prizeman in 1861. [This seems to be an error by Venn: Colby's preface to Abbott's Flatland states that Abbott was 7th Senior Optime, Senior Classic and 1st Chancellor's Medallist in 1861; William Steadman Aldis was 1st Smith's Prizeman in 1861.] In 1862 he took orders. After holding masterships at King Edward's School, Birmingham, he succeeded G. F. Mortimer as headmaster of the City of London School in 1865 at the early age of twenty-six. Here he oversaw the education of future Prime Minister H. H. Asquith. He was Hulsean lecturer in 1876.
He retired in 1889, and devoted himself to literary and theological pursuits. Abbott's liberal inclinations in theology were prominent both in his educational views and in his books. His Shakespearian Grammar (1870) is a permanent contribution to English philology. In 1885 he published a life of Francis Bacon. His theological writings include three anonymously published religious romances - Philochristus (1878), where he tried to raise interest in Gospels reading, Onesimus (1882), and Silanus the Christian (1908).
More weighty contributions are the anonymous theological discussion The Kernel and the Husk (1886), Philomythus (1891), his book The Anglican Career of Cardinal Newman (1892), and his article "The Gospels" in the ninth edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, embodying a critical view which caused considerable stir in the English theological world. He also wrote St Thomas of Canterbury, his Death and Miracles (1898), Johannine Vocabulary (1905), Johannine Grammar (1906).
Abbott also wrote educational text books, one being "Via Latina: First Latin Book" which was published in 1898 and distributed around the world within the education system.
Flatland
Abbott's best-known work is his 1884 novella Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions which describes a two-dimensional world and explores the nature of dimensions. It has often been categorized as science fiction although it could more precisely be called "mathematical fiction".
With the advent of modern science fiction from the 1950s to the present day, Flatland has seen a revival in popularity, especially among science fiction and cyberpunk fans. Many works have been inspired by the novella, including novel sequels and short films.