What is the Fourth Dimension?
The fourth dimension is a topic that philosophers, mathematicians, religious leaders, and others have pondered for centuries. The significance of a fourth dimension is unknown, but grasping the fourth dimension could lead to new discoveries in many fields. Nobody knows exactly what it is. Time? Space? Motion? Does it even exist? Philosophers as early as Plato posed questions as to the possibility of a higher dimension. He theorized that humans may not be fully aware of their full dimensional capacity. Not until the 19th century though did the concept really begin to take shape. The famous philosopher Immanuel Kant was the first to bring a great deal of attention to the subject and its diverse applications. As the fourth dimension gained importance in many schools of thought, more questions were raised as to what it was. Groups such as the Spiritualists used it as support for theories of ghosts and souls. The fourth dimension could be the residence of heaven and hell. It could explain h
The fourth dimension is generally understood to refer to a hypothetical fourth spatial dimension, added on to our normal three dimensions. It should not be confused with the view of space-time, which adds a fourth dimension of time to the universe. The space in which a fourth dimension exists is referred to as 4-dimensional Euclidean space. Beginning in the early part of the 19th century people began to consider the possibilities of a fourth dimension of space. Mobius, for example, understood that in a fourth dimension a three dimension object could be taken and rotated on to its mirror image. The most common form of this, the four dimensional cube, or tesseract, is generally used as a visual representation of a fourth dimension. Later in the century, Riemann set out the foundations for true four-dimensional geometry, which later mathematicians would build on. In our three dimensional world, we can look at all space as existing on three dimensions. All things can move along three diffe
By Charles H. Hinton 1884 [From Scientific Romances, Vol. 1 (1884). Copy-text: pp 1-22, Speculations on the Fourth Dimension, Selected Writings of Charles H. Hinton, Copyright 1980 by Dover Publications, Inc., ISBN 0-486-23916-0, LC 79-54399.] Limitations of Our Existence AT the present time our actions are largely influenced by our theories. We have abandoned the simple and instinctive mode of life of the earlier civilizations for one regulated by the assumptions of our knowledge and supplemented by all the devices of intelligence. In such a state it is possible to conceive that a danger may arise, not only from a want of knowledge and practical skill, but even from the very presence and possession of them in any one department, if there is a lack of information in other departments. If, for instance, with our present knowledge of physical laws and mechanical skill, we were to build houses without regard to the conditions laid down by physiology, we should probably–to suit an apparen
While your question may appear simplistic, soliciting simple answers, it is actually quite complex and deserves a proper answer. It is commonly said in science that we live in a universe of three physical dimensions (vertical motion, horizontal motion, and crosswise motion) which are manifested as space and that time is the fourth dimension.
