Sebastian,
I read "The Planiverse" when I attended university (UC Irvine)? had found it in our university library.
"The Planiverse" is well written and thought provoking. It?s a morality play as well as a treatise about how physics, biology, & society could work when one of our most common assumptions (a third dimension) is removed. His premises and explanations are smoothly woven into the narrative. The narrative maintains a good dose of humor.
The book?s best use is to teach how one can extrapolate many interrelated implications from an unfamiliar set of rules in a closed system. I?d say that the target age group for such reasoning would not be any younger than 14 years old.
Some major points in the book:
? Just as miracles in our world could be explained by a multi-dimensional intelligence manipulating multi-dimensional objects through a three-dimensional world; so to, three-dimensional people like us, if we could interact with a two-dimensional world, could appear to perform miracles in that world.
? The seeming omnipotent power of such control could lead to moral dilemmas.
? The time needed for a physical change (chemical, perception, information) is a function of surface area, which is *drastically* reduced in a two dimensional world. Consequently a 2D object requires a vastly larger size to increase its surface area to the point where meaningful interactions can take place.
? Even with the increased size, the number of parallel events that can occur in 2D is restricted. Most interactions must be performed in a linear time sequence.
"In terms of eToys in Squeakland":
? eToys & Morphs are layered 2D objects which imply: 1) a (very limited) third-dimension, and 2) The 2D objects are observed by someone positioned orthogonal to the 2D objects so that their inside contents can be perceived (like papers on a desktop, surprise, surprise). [I?m still looking for a tool that fulfills the paperweight metaphor for my desktop metaphor. ;-) ]
? One could simulate the "Planiverse" in eToys but most of the functionality of the Morphs would not help. A new set of rules and a new set of 2D "physics" would need to be created by hand. This would need to include the dynamic distortion of a 2D object?s shape per the influences on it. Many changes in shape are required to replace what equates to the change of position in a 3D world.
? "Planiverse" requires gravity while Abbot's "Flatland" resembles a world seen in a microscope slide. "Flatland" might be easier to simulate in eToys. In "Planiverse" gravity must replace structure for holding most 2D objects together.
Cheers,
Darius
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-squeakland@squeakland.org [mailto:owner-squeakland@squeakland.org] On Behalf Of Sebastian Hergott
Sent: Monday, February 24, 2003 09:38 PM
To: squeakland@squeakland.org
Subject: Flatlanders and The Planiverse
In terms of eToys in SqueakLAND, has anyone read this book? thoughts?
The Planiverse. Computer Contact with a Two-Dimensional World
Author(s): A. K. Dewdney
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0387989161
Format: softback
245pp
Price: ?15.00, $22.00
Review Date: March 23, 2001
Review: This book, first published 16 years ago, follows in the genre of Edward Abbot's nineteenth century classic Flatland. The story is written in the style of an academic - in the computer lab of a large university a group of students and their
professor are working on mainframe, modelling an imaginary two-dimensional world. Suddenly one student notices that the world that they are building with their graphics program is inhabited! They are soon entranced by a universe in which astonishing tiny
creatures, 2-D Ardeans, exist solely on an x-y plane. This mental puzzle invites the reader to imagine how a two-dimensional world might work.. An appendix includes readers' contributions made to Scientific American , following an article about the 2-D
universe, from the viewpoints of physics, chemistry, planetary science, biology, astronomy and technology.
Source: http://www.booknews.co.uk/Books/1806.htm
The more I discuss Squeak with folks, the richer I become. Thanks to C. Matthews for this.
_._._._._._._._._
Sebastian Hergott
Teacher/Intermediate Program Coordinator - CyberARTS
Arts and Information Technology Convener
ASA (Academic Services Associate)
Don Mills Middle School, tel. 395-2320
17 The Donway East, Don Mills, Ontario, M3C 1X6, Canada
sebastian.hergott@tel.tdsb.on.ca