OC.Trei%CU20B@sri-unix.UUCP (03/26/84)
From: Peter G. Trei <OC.Trei@CU20B> The Planiverse (Computer contact with a two-dimensional world). by A.K. Dewdney. Poseiden Press (1984). $9.95, 267 pp., trade paperback. 0-671-46363-2 (-4 for hardback). Back when I was in high school, one of my math teachers, aware of my interest in SF, loaned me his copy of A. Abbott's Flatland, a fantasy written back in 1884 describing a society inhabiting a 2-dimensional universe. It was fascinating, and certainly one of the earliest alternate-universe stories I can think of (do check it out if you can). A.K. Dewdney, a CS professor at the University of Western Ontario, has updated the Abbott's idea, and drawn it out in far greater detail. With the collaboration of many scientists, he has restructured Flatland, giving it astrophysics, geology, chemistry, gravity, biology, and politics. In the book we follow Yndrd, an inhabitant of the planet Arde, as he travels across his world. He sees, (and we get to watch) two-dimensional fishing boats, housing, monsters, steelmills, and cities. He visits the local equivalent of a university, and we learn of two-dimensional biology, chemistry, and computer science (beleive it or not, you CAN make two signal paths cross in 2D, but it's tricky.) The 2D steam-engine is particularly elegant, and his people also travel by balloon and rocket. There is even a space station in orbit around his world. What makes this all SF rather than just a travelogue is the way we are in contact with Yndrd; Dr. Dewdney presents the contact as an accidental byproduct of an experimental simulation of a 2D world, which somehow resonated with a real Flatland, and put him into contact with it. On the periphery of the story are the efforts of himself and the few students in on the contact to keep it a secret from the university administration, which is firmly opposed to strange goings on in the CS building late at night. I cant say this is deathless prose, but if you saw the early report on this project which Martin Gardner made in Scientific American a couple years back, I know you will rush out to get it. If you liked Hal Clement's "Mission of Gravity" or Forward's more recent "Dragon's Egg", you will also like it. As an alternate-world story, it's a little weak on plot, but very strong on ideas and imagination. I cannot leave this review forgetting to mention that The Planiverse is copiously illustrated by the author, to its great advantage (try describing a two-dimensional piano without drawing it!). There is also an appendix which describes many of the facets of his world which Yndrd never get gets around to. Despite the price, this is a must-read book for anyone with an imagination. Peter Trei oc.trei%cu20b@columbia-20 PS: Has'nt the MZB/feminisim debate gotton a little out of hand? We are having comments on peoples comments on peoples comments! (Is that a self-referential sentence?). PT -------
magi@deepthot.UUCP (David Wiseman) (03/26/84)
Dr. Dewdney and his publisher would like to thank Peter Trei
for his review of *The Planiverse*. For those of you who
missed it, here are the details of the book itself.
The Planiverse (Computer contact with a two-dimensional
world). by A.K. Dewdney. Poseiden Press (1984). $9.95,
267 pp., trade paperback. 0-671-46363-2 (-4 for hard-
back). Prices are different in Canada.
There has been a lot of confusion concerning the *reality*
of Arde and the planiverse. We hope that the following
information, garnered from Dr. Dewdney -- with quotes from
several associates, helps to clarify the situation.
We spoke with Dr. Dewdney recently in order to get the horse
to talk. In response to critisms of the price of the book,
Dr. Dewdney was heard to mumble something about high-quality
fiction and state-of-the-art book design. He states that
he has consistently refused to supply the publishers, or
anyone else, with a copy of the program 2DWORLD (TOPS-10
version). He did, however, have the following to say about
the book:
WARNING: The events described in "The Planiverse"
did NOT, repeat, did NOT actually take
place.
If I *ever* claimed that the events related in *The
Planiverse* really happened, I would lose my job faster
that you could say *Yndrd*.
Other quotes we received were as follows:
The book is not a hoax. No, honestly, I believe every
word of it.
- Douglas Adams
In response to all of the requests I have had for
2DWORLD I must state, on the network, that I DO NOT
HAVE THE SOURCE!!
- Magi, UWOCS System Manager, R&D Systems
We hope that this article has been of some use in alleviat-
ing some of the confusion that has existed since the uncov-
ering of this research project. For those of you who might
be interested in corresponding with Dr. Dewdney, he can be
reached via UUCP as
...!utzoo!uwo!deepthot!yndrd
or ...!watmath!deepthot!yndrd
but does not promise to reply to everything either fast or
at all.
--
President, Yndrd Fan Club
Department of Computer Science
The University of Western Ontario