An Integration of Mathematical and Multicultural Viewpoints .
Flatland, a novel written in the early 1900s by mathematician, social philosopher and head of the City of London School Edwin Abbot Abbot, is a wonderful novel that, on the surface, is a cute little story about some geometric shapes who live in a two dimensional world called Flatland, but underneath is full of strong statements about racism and social structure - gender equity in particular. Edwin Abbot Abbot was well ahead of his time with his ideas and with his challenge to see beyond the surface appearance of things. Thomas Banchoff, who wrote the introduction for the newest re-publication of Flatland said this about the novel, "Abbott was a social reformer who. was a firm believer in equality of educational opportunity, across social classes and in particular for women. He participated actively in the efforts to bring about changes, and the frustration he felt from the resistance of the educational establishment is mirrored in the satire of Flatland.Abbott definitely saw education as a means for students to transcend the social class into which they were born.A basic liberal education should be provided to all students.The social lessons of Flatland are still being learned.".
Multicultural interaction and education are very important in today's society. A big issue I noticed from reading the article on Madison High School was that students came to the school and were suddenly faced with interacting with students from many different backgrounds, and they did not know how to do that. Flatland is not only an intriguing and engaging book about geometry itself, it also teaches valuable lessons about what a negatively multicultural society would be like - one with distinct classes who are viewed as "better" or "worse" than others. Students learn from reading Flatland that a society where groups are not viewed as equal is not a very fun kind to live in.
