flatterland..... a review

the brother bought the book from borders (hey how's that for alliteration) and i got to sneak a peek at it.

being a fan of popular science books i had high expectations from ian stewart, an internationally acclaimed author.

basically, the book is touted as a sequel to edwin abbott abbott's (yes that's two abbotts) flatland (1884) and attempts to bring the reader through today's wonderful world of mathematics, where everything that can be described by z=f(a,b,c,....,y) (or similar) is possible.

but.

the book is too superficial to achieve much. attempting to explain to the reader 18 different concepts in 300+ pages is not possible, and most of the time the material is skimpy and does not fully explain concepts. ian stewart attempts a tour de force of modern mathematics, but ends up committing too many lines to witty dialogue, which quickly becomes boring and repetitive, thus wasting space which could have been put to better use. some of the "solutions" given to "problems" stated in the book are not thorough enough, and the reader is left hanging. many of the diary entries of victoria line (the protagonist) which (i expect) are supposed to help the reader understand concepts more clearly instead confuse, being written more in a narrative style than a descriptive style.

so, the verdict, you ask. if you want a beautifully written piece of prose, read flatterland. however, if you're expecting a popular science book, stick to classics such as "the universe in a nutshell" (hawking) or the elegant universe (greene)