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The 4D Doodler
Do you believe, Professor Gault, that this four dimensional plane contains life--intelligent life?
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First published July 1, 1941
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
March 18, 2016
A funny and very short story from 1941 telling about one lab assistant's unexpected adventures with the fourth dimension. At first I thought the doodler would be a machine or gadget of some sort, but Harper the lab assistant himself is the doodler, and he had attracted the attention of Something in the fourth dimension with his scribblings.
I will not even try to understand the fourth dimension or how it supposedly works. I was curious at the beginning of the story but one peek at Wiki, where I saw phrases like mathematics, Euclidean space, vectors, coordinate geometry and I caved, scurrying back to the story to simply enjoy the author's imagination.
Could these events happen? Can an orange be turned inside out without being destroyed? Could a person be pulled into the fourth dimension? Or be trapped halfway there? I don't know and it really doesn't matter. This was a flight of fancy that made me laugh, and I needed that today.
I will not even try to understand the fourth dimension or how it supposedly works. I was curious at the beginning of the story but one peek at Wiki, where I saw phrases like mathematics, Euclidean space, vectors, coordinate geometry and I caved, scurrying back to the story to simply enjoy the author's imagination.
Could these events happen? Can an orange be turned inside out without being destroyed? Could a person be pulled into the fourth dimension? Or be trapped halfway there? I don't know and it really doesn't matter. This was a flight of fancy that made me laugh, and I needed that today.
October 5, 2012
A classic science-fiction short story from 1941. Like many stories of its kind from that time, it's much more about imagination and hypothesis than either style or substance. C'mon, it's about the possibilities of the 4th dimension and the sentient beings who could live there! What's not to enjoy about that? Thanks to Project Gutenberg for getting this early piece of creative sci-fi onto the web.
January 15, 2026
This story is just a lot of fun silliness.
It's characters and situational comedy is very much of its time, which is the 1940's. Still I found myself chuckling.
You can tell the writer was writing a respectful parody of "Flatland" which he references in the story.
The whole bit about the paper cutouts of 2D human figures, is the writer riffing on an idea straight out of Flatland. Complete with the demonstrations of 3D people, in whole or in part, seemingly disappearing in thin air.
And let's not forget that the 4D entity the characters interact with is mentally unbalanced. A subject that is one of the main character forces compelling forward the "plot" of Flatland.
As much as I like this story, I still prefer the original book Flatland, which is not only a lot funnier, but more accurate ah....scientifically.
After all, isn't the Fourth Demension Time? When the character Harper slips into the 4D world, there isn't a lot of Time apparent. Just a lot of Space. And it doesn't appear to be SoaceTime at that.
Ah well, it is of its time. And still a fun read.
It's characters and situational comedy is very much of its time, which is the 1940's. Still I found myself chuckling.
You can tell the writer was writing a respectful parody of "Flatland" which he references in the story.
The whole bit about the paper cutouts of 2D human figures, is the writer riffing on an idea straight out of Flatland. Complete with the demonstrations of 3D people, in whole or in part, seemingly disappearing in thin air.
And let's not forget that the 4D entity the characters interact with is mentally unbalanced. A subject that is one of the main character forces compelling forward the "plot" of Flatland.
As much as I like this story, I still prefer the original book Flatland, which is not only a lot funnier, but more accurate ah....scientifically.
After all, isn't the Fourth Demension Time? When the character Harper slips into the 4D world, there isn't a lot of Time apparent. Just a lot of Space. And it doesn't appear to be SoaceTime at that.
Ah well, it is of its time. And still a fun read.
May 8, 2017
An amusing little story about crossing over to the fourth dimension.
December 26, 2017
A nice little adventure down the rabbit hole. Kept engaged without going into scientific explanations.
April 3, 2018
Part of LibriVox Short Science Fiction Collection 001. Interesting take on an encounter with the 4th dimension. Eccentric characters add to the fun of the mystery.
November 4, 2018
Old-timey SF.
May 18, 2022
Comedy isn't really my thing and this very much read like a comedy to me. Otherwise, a quick read with some interesting bits.
May 25, 2021
Flatland is revisited, by idiots.
February 20, 2012
A wild very short story.
The story is told in a narrative and conversational style.
The narrator is well spoken, his voice is clear and easy to listen to.
The recording good is clean with out any background noises. There plenty of volume. The editing is seamless.
The story is told in a narrative and conversational style.
The narrator is well spoken, his voice is clear and easy to listen to.
The recording good is clean with out any background noises. There plenty of volume. The editing is seamless.
July 16, 2015
This is an interesting short story. The author definitely explored the idea of the 4th dimension to his heart's content, which is cool. But, if you're looking for more poetic prose, or, at the very least, writing that doesn't make you cringe, this isn't for you.
November 14, 2010
Strange tale about a doodler who just happens to doodle away into the 4th dimension. Listened to this via a librivox recording.
August 6, 2015
The scientists seemed to have to learn they could not explain or solve everything.
September 30, 2016
Someone's review below had it right - cringy writing. Wouldn't particularly like to meet this author.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews