Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Flatland with Notes and Commentary
- Part I This World
- 1 Of the Nature of Flatland
- 2 Of the Climate and Houses in Flatland
- 3 Concerning the Inhabitants of Flatland
- 4 Concerning the Women
- 5 Of our Methods of Recognizing one another
- 6 Of Recognition by Sight
- 7 Concerning Irregular Figures
- 8 Of the Ancient Practice of Painting
- 9 Of the Universal Colour Bill
- 10 Of the Suppression of the Chromatic Sedition
- 11 Concerning our Priests
- 12 Of the Doctrine of our Priests
- Part II Other Worlds
- Epilogue by the Editor
- Continued Notes
- Appendix A Critical Reaction to Flatland
- Appendix B The Life and Work of Edwin Abbott Abbott
- Recommended Reading
- References
- Index of Defined Words
- Index
11 - Concerning our Priests
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Flatland with Notes and Commentary
- Part I This World
- 1 Of the Nature of Flatland
- 2 Of the Climate and Houses in Flatland
- 3 Concerning the Inhabitants of Flatland
- 4 Concerning the Women
- 5 Of our Methods of Recognizing one another
- 6 Of Recognition by Sight
- 7 Concerning Irregular Figures
- 8 Of the Ancient Practice of Painting
- 9 Of the Universal Colour Bill
- 10 Of the Suppression of the Chromatic Sedition
- 11 Concerning our Priests
- 12 Of the Doctrine of our Priests
- Part II Other Worlds
- Epilogue by the Editor
- Continued Notes
- Appendix A Critical Reaction to Flatland
- Appendix B The Life and Work of Edwin Abbott Abbott
- Recommended Reading
- References
- Index of Defined Words
- Index
Summary
It is high time that I should pass from these brief and discursive notes about things in Flatland to the central event of this book, my initiation into the mysteries of Space. That is my subject; all that has gone before is merely preface.
For this reason I must omit many matters of which the explanation would not, I flatter myself, be without interest for my Readers: as for example, our method of propelling and stopping ourselves, although destitute of feet; the means by which we give fixity to structures of wood, stone, or brick, although of course we have no hands, nor can we lay foundations as you can, nor avail ourselves of the lateral pressure of the earth; the manner in which the rain originates in the intervals between our various zones, so that the northern regions do not intercept the moisture from falling on the southern; the nature of our hills and mines, our trees and vegetables, our seasons and harvests; our Alphabet, suited to our linear tablets; our eyes, adapted to our linear sides; these and a hundred other details of our physical existence I must pass over, nor do I mention them now except to indicate to my readers that their omission proceeds, not from forgetfulness on the part of the Author, but from his regard for the time of the Reader.
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- Information
- FlatlandAn Edition with Notes and Commentary, pp. 96 - 102Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009