Editing Four-dimensional space (section)

===In literature===
{{Main|Fourth dimension in literature}}

[[Science fiction]] texts often mention the concept of "dimension" when referring to [[Parallel universes in fiction|parallel or alternate universes]] or other imagined [[Plane (esotericism)|planes of existence]]. This usage is derived from the idea that to travel to parallel/alternate universes/planes of existence one must travel in a direction/dimension besides the standard ones. In effect, the other universes/planes are just a small distance away from this universe, but the distance is in a fourth (or higher) spatial (or non-spatial) dimension, not the standard ones.

One of the most heralded science fiction stories regarding true geometric dimensionality, and often recommended as a starting point for those just starting to investigate such matters, is the 1884 novella ''[[Flatland]]'' by Edwin A. Abbott. Isaac Asimov, in his foreword to the Signet Classics 1984 edition, described ''Flatland'' as "The best introduction one can find into the manner of perceiving dimensions."

The idea of other dimensions was incorporated into many early science fiction stories, appearing prominently, for example, in [[Miles J. Breuer]]'s ''The Appendix and the Spectacles'' (1928) and [[Murray Leinster]]'s ''The Fifth-Dimension Catapult'' (1931); and appeared irregularly in science fiction by the 1940s. Classic stories involving other dimensions include [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s ''[[—And He Built a Crooked House]]'' (1941), in which a California architect designs a house based on a three-dimensional projection of a tesseract; [[Alan E. Nourse]]'s ''Tiger by the Tail'' and ''The Universe Between'' (both 1951); and ''[https://archive.org/stream/galaxymagazine-1957-04/Galaxy_1957_04#page/n59/mode/2up The Ifth of Oofth]'' (1957) by [[Walter Tevis]]. Another reference is [[Madeleine L'Engle]]'s novel ''[[A Wrinkle In Time]]'' (1962), which uses the fifth dimension as a way of "tesseracting the universe" or "folding" space to move across it quickly. The fourth and fifth dimensions are also key components of the book ''[[The Boy Who Reversed Himself]]'' by [[William Sleator]].