Fourth Dimension Simply Explained

Author(s)

• Henry Parker Manning

In January 1909 a friend of the Scientific American paid the sum of 500$ which was to be awarded as a prize for the best popular explanation of the Fourth Dimension. The object being to set forth in an essay not longer than 2500 words the meaning of the term so that the lay reader could understand it. 245 essays were submitted, the 500$ prize was awarded to Lieut.-Col. Graham Denby Fitch, Corps of Engineers, USA, and the essay was published in the Scientific American of July 3rd 1909.

Despite the character of the subject, extraordinary interest was manifested in the contest. Competitive essays were received from almost every civilized country. Because of this unexpected interest in the subject, it has seemed advisable to preserve a few of the essays which were submitted. Prof. Henry P. Manning (Brown Univ.) has chosen essays which lend themselves best for the purpose of a popular book on the Fourth Dimension, in other words, those which present the subject from as many different points of view as possible.

This book contains 22 of the submitted essays, starting with the prizewinning one, followed by three that received an honorable mention. (Summary adapted from the preface by Availle).

1. Preface
2. Introduction, Part 1
3. Introduction, Part 2
4. An Elucidation of the Fourth Dimension
5. Non-Eucledian Geometry and the Fourth Dimension
6. Fourth Dimension Absurdities
7. The Boundary of the Four-Dimensional Unit And Other Features of Four-Dimensional Space
8. How the Fourth Dimension May Be Studied
9. Space and Hyperspace
10. An Interpretation of the Fourth Dimension
11. Length, Breadth, Thickness, And Then What?
12. The Fourth Dimension Algebraically Considered
13. Difficulties In Imagining the Fourth Dimension
14. Some Fourth Dimension Curiosities
15. Characteristics of the Fourth Dimension
16. The Fourth Dimension, the Playground of Mathematics
17. The True and the False in the Theory of Four Dimensions
18. The Ascending Series of Dimensions
19. The Mind's Eye and the Fourth Dimension
20. Other Dimensions Than Ours
21. The Meaning of the Term 'Fourth Dimension'
22. A Pupil in Geometry Quizzes His Teacher About the Fourth Dimension
23. Possible Measurements And Forms In A System of Four Dimensions
24. The Fairyland of the Fourth Dimension
25. The Properties of Four-Dimensional Space