Originally published in 1884, this short novel tells the story of A. Square, and inhabitant of the two-dimensional world Flatland. After an overview of Flatland society in all its aspects, A. Square recounts how he was led in a series of visions and travels to nondimensional Pointland, one-dimensional Lineland, and three-dimensional Spaceland by A. Sphere on the last day of Flatland's year 1999. Through his encounters with these other lands, A. Square realizes that there is indeed more to the universe than the world in which he lives. A. Sphere opens A. Square's mind to new possibilities, illuminating the path to knowledge through careful observation and commonsense experimentation. But when A. Square can be contented no longer with what he has already seen, he dreams of visiting a land of four dimensions, the so-called Thoughtland. As in real life, such desires are met with sometimes-violent opposition from society's leaders in the name of maintaining the status quo.