A Primer of Higher Space: The Fourth Dimension

by Claude Bragdon

Think of the fourth dimension, not as a new region in space... but as a principle of growth, of change... -from "The Fourth Dimension as Time" This 1913 treatise on the intersection of the mystical and the mathematical implied by Einstein's 1905 special theory of relativity is now considered a classic of philosophical physics. Claude Bragdon here first proposed the now mathematically commonplace concept of the "hypercube," or four-dimensional cube (he incorporated 4-D designs into some of his architectural projects), and explores his radical and provocative ideas about the mathematical structure of the universe. Complete with a gallery of Bragdon's gorgeous line drawings illustrating higher space, this is a truly mind-expanding experience. Other works by Bragdon available from Cosimo Classics: More Lives Than One, The Beautiful Necessity, Architecture and Democracy, and Episodes from An Unwritten History. American architect, stage designer, and writer CLAUDE FAYETTE BRAGDON (1866-1946) helped found the Rochester Architectural Club, in the city where he made his greatest mark as a building designer with structures including Rochester Central Station, Rochester Institute of Technology, and the First Universalist Church; he also designed Peterborough Bridge in Ontario. In later life, Bragdon worked on Broadway as scenic designer for 1930s productions of Cyrano de Bergerac and Hamlet, among others.

Genres: Nonfiction, Philosophy

88 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1913

About the author

Claude Fayette Bragdon was an American architect, writer, and stage designer based in Rochester, New York, up to World War I, then in New York City.

The designer of Rochester’s New York Central Railroad terminal (1909–13) and Chamber of Commerce (1915–17), as well as many other public buildings and private residences, Bragdon enjoyed a national reputation as an architect working in the progressive tradition associated with Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright. Along with members of the Prairie School and other regional movements, these architects developed new approaches to the planning, design, and ornamentation of buildings that embraced industrial techniques and building types while reaffirming democratic traditions threatened by the rise of urban mass society. In numerous essays and books, Bragdon argued that only an “organic architecture” based on nature could foster democratic community in industrial capitalist society.

Reviews

[Chak · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was fortunate enough to find and be inexplicably captivated by the 1923 edition of "A Primer of Higher Space" (originally published in 1913) at the exact time of my life when I needed it. Were it not for dating a rare books librarian at the time, I would have never been able to "bend the rules" and sneak this book out to read, and my life would have turned out very differently.

There has never been and probably will never be a book which is more important me, and I don't think I can fully explain why. "A Primer of Higher Space" is a very simple book of far less than 100 pages (most of which are diagrams) that describes basic ideas about multi-dimensional space. As was the case with many of the late 19th century / early 20th century "esoterics," mathematics and science was presented along with spirituality and philosophy and Bragdon opened new doors of thought (regarding religion, death, time, knowledge and being) for me as I read this book for the first time. The world would be so different today if those branches of thought hadn't diverged so profoundly, and it is encouraging to see the apparent re-convergence in recent times.

Years after my first reading of this book, I found the exact edition on eBay and I find myself turning to this book again and again. Since then, I've found quite a few Claude Bragdon books from the 1920s and 30s and have enjoyed them all.

[Tamsin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely superb, easily one of my favorite books now, I could have drowned in every page of interdimensional video game crystal glass magic. Every sentence has a razor edge you can walk over and reach another plane you weren’t aware was always just on the other side, if our language only gets sharp enough.
The book is short which allowed me to read and reread every page without feeling slowed down.
Also the diagrams in my copy were scrumptious and aesthetically seemed way ahead of their time

[Timothy Morrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dimension occult

[Miles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whoa. A somewhat/not very easy to follow explanation of the first four dimensions, including an answer to how to fit a square peg into a round hole, reincarnation explained as higher-dimensional being expressing itself in 3rd dimensional space, and an imaginary sermon/parable on how 2-d beings can attain higher dimensions.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simply, an excellent introductory book to grasping the basic concepts of 4th Dimensionality in our everyday world.... schools will start teaching children 4D very soon. It's just very complicated to explain and teach using mathematical terms. Mathematicians are working on how to make it understandable for various age levels and figuring out how they will be able to utilize this knowledge in everyday and/or (most likely) specialty fields of applications.

...'Don't ever stop living and learning, no matter what age you are.'