MATHEMATICAL FICTION:

a list compiled by Alex Kasman (College of Charleston)

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The Man Who Annexed the Moon (1931)
Bob Olsen
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Like many other "pulp sci-fi" stories of the early 20th century, this one utilizes the concept of the "fourth dimension". Unlike some of the others which toss around those terms casually, Olsen's stories offer a particularly informative...and particularly mathematical discussion of the ideas behind it.

In particular, this story delves into the idea of making a four-dimensional "tube" by stacking together hollow spheres in analogy to the way one could make a tube as a stack of flat washers in three dimensions.

This story was published in the February 1931 issue of Amazing Stories. I only learned about this work of mathematical fiction (and several other similar ones by the same author) from the website mathfiction.net where a digital scan is available for download.

Available Free Online at MathFiction.net: "The Man Who Annexed the Moon" is available as a PDF from Vijay Fafat and Prof. Mythili Vutukuru's MathFiction.net website.

More information about this work can be found at www.mathfiction.net.
(Note: This is just one work of mathematical fiction from the list. To see the entire list or to see more works of mathematical fiction, return to the Homepage.)

Works Similar to The Man Who Annexed the Moon
According to my `secret formula', the following works of mathematical fiction are similar to this one:
  1. The Four Dimensional Transit by Bob Olsen
  2. The Four Dimensional Surgery by Bob Olsen
  3. The Gostak and the Doshes by Miles J. Breuer (M.D.)
  4. The Magic Staircase by Nelson Slade Bond
  5. A Victim of Higher Space by Algernon Blackwood
  6. Plane People by Wallace West
  7. A Modern Comedy of Science by Issac Nathanson
  8. Technical Error by Arthur C. Clarke
  9. The Cube Root of Conquest by Rog Phillips
  10. Gold Dust and Star Dust by Cyrill Wates
Ratings for The Man Who Annexed the Moon:
RatingsHave you seen/read this work of mathematical fiction? Then click here to enter your own votes on its mathematical content and literary quality or send me comments to post on this Webpage.
Mathematical Content:
2/5 (1 votes)
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Literary Quality:
2/5 (1 votes)
..

Categories:
GenreScience Fiction,
MotifHigher/Lower Dimensions,
TopicGeometry/Topology/Trigonometry,
MediumShort Stories, Available Free Online,

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Exciting News: The 1,600th entry was recently added to this database of mathematical fiction! Also, for those of you interested in non-fictional math books let me (shamelessly) plug the recent release of the second edition of my soliton theory textbook.

(Maintained by Alex Kasman, College of Charleston)