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Gresham College·Sarah Hart
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Mathematical Journeys into Fictional Worlds
Professor Sarah Hart explores the intersection of mathematics and literature, analyzing how concepts of dimension and geometry are interpreted and satirized in classic fictional works like 'Gulliver's Travels' and 'Flatland'.
Literary satire has long used mathematical concepts to reinforce its points. Gulliver’s Travels (1724) played with ideas of dimension, size, and shape, and a century later, Edwin Abbot’s novel Flatland (1884) explored the mathematics of higher dimensions, through the experiences of its two-dimensional protagonist, “A Square”. Both novels have spawned a host of sequels, commentaries, and films.