Edwin Abbott Abbott
| Edwin Abbott Abbott | |
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| Born | December 20, 1838 |
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| Died | October 12, 1929 (aged 90) |
| Nationality | English |
| Education | City of London School St John's College |
| Occupation | teacher, author |
| Parents | Edwin Abbott |
Edwin Abbott Abbott (December 20, 1838 – October 12, 1926), English schoolmaster and theologian, is best known as the author of the mathematical satire and religious allegory Flatland (1884). Abbott was the eldest son of Edwin Abbott (1808–1882), headmaster of the Philological School, Marylebone, and his wife, Jane Abbott (1806–1882). His parents were first cousins.
He was educated at the City of London School and at St John's College, Cambridge, where he took the highest honours in classics, mathematics and theology, and became fellow of his college. In 1862 he took orders. After holding masterships at King Edward's School, Birmingham, and at Clifton College, he succeeded G. F. Mortimer as headmaster of the City of London School in 1865 at the early age of twenty-six. Here he oversaw the education of future Prime Minister H. H. Asquith. He was Hulsean lecturer in 1876.
He retired in 1889, and devoted himself to literary and theological pursuits. Dr. Abbott's liberal inclinations in theology were prominent both in his educational views and in his books. His Shakespearian Grammar (1870) is a permanent contribution to English philology. In 1885 he published a life of Francis Bacon. His theological writings include three anonymously published religious romances - Philochristus (1878), Onesimus (1882), and Sitanus (1906).
More weighty contributions are the anonymous theological discussion The Kernel and the Husk (1886), Philomythus (1891), his book The Anglican Career of Cardinal Newman (1892), and his article "The Gospels" in the ninth edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, embodying a critical view which caused considerable stir in the English theological world. He also wrote St Thomas of Canterbury, his Death and Miracles (1898), Johannine Vocabulary (1905), Johannine Grammar (1906). Flatland was published in 1884.
With the advent of modern science fiction from the 1950s to present day, Abbott's Flatland has seen a revival in popularity, especially among science fiction and cyberpunk fans. While not, strictly speaking, science fiction (it could more accurately be called "math fiction"), Flatland has often been categorized as such. Many works have have been inspired by the novella, including novel sequels, short films, and a feature film called Flatland.
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
- Dictionary of National Biography.
- Tuck, Donald H. (1974). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Chicago: Advent. pp. 1.
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Edwin Abbott Abbott |
- O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Edwin Abbott Abbott", MacTutor History of Mathematics archive
- Works by Edwin Abbott Abbott at Project Gutenberg
- Online text of Flatland
- Edwin Abbott Abbott at the Internet Book List
- Edwin Abbott Abbott at the Internet Book Database of Fiction
- Edwin Abbott Abbott at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
