Flatland: Upward, Not Northward

One of the books that inspired Christopher Nolan's film *Interstellar*
A science fiction novel from 1884, a classic bestseller for 135 years

"Why are those who yearn for knowledge met with disappointment, or even punishment?"

In the world of Flatland, lines are women, isosceles triangles are the lower class, equilateral triangles are the middle class, squares and regular polygons are the nobility, and regular polygons closer to a circle are bishops. Well-behaved isosceles triangles can increase their angles, gradually becoming equilateral triangles; other regular polygons gain an additional side with each child they bear. For centuries, the citizens of Flatland have strived to "become better shapes."

Square thought the same way. Until he had a strange dream. As the second millennium arrived, a strange circle told him: "This is not the only world."

A whole new dimension unfolded before him, grand and expansive.