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　　External Websites Ask the Chatbot a Question Also known as: hypercube, tessaract Written by L. Sue Baugh L. Sue Baugh is a writer and editor who works in the educational, business, and science/medical fields. L. Sue Baugh Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Last Updated: Dec 23, 2024 • Article History Table of Contents Table of Contents Ask the Chatbot a Question Also called: hypercube (Show more) { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "FAQPage", "mainEntity": [ { "@type" : "Question", "name" : " What is a tesseract? ", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "A tesseract, also called a hypercube, is a geometric shape that is the four-dimensional equivalent of a three-dimensional cube." } } , { "@type" : "Question", "name" : " Who introduced the tesseract? ", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "British mathematician Charles Howard Hinton introduced the tesseract in his books A New Era of Thought (1888) and The Fourth Dimension (1904)." } } , { "@type" : "Question", "name" : " How is a tesseract related to lower geometric dimensions? ", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "A tesseract extends the concept of dimensions, starting from a point (0-D), a line (1-D), a square (2-D), to a cube (3-D), and finally to a tesseract in 4-D, which consists of 8 cubes, 16 vertices, 24 faces, and 32 edges." } } , { "@type" : "Question", "name" : " How is the tesseract used in science fiction? ", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "In science fiction, the tesseract is used as a theme in stories such as Robert Heinleinu2019s u201Cu2014And He Built a Crooked Houseu2014u201D (1941) and Madeleine Lu2019Engleu2019s A Wrinkle in Time (1962), where it is used for space-time travel." } } , { "@type" : "Question", "name" : " How has the tesseract been featured in fine art? ", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Artist Salvador Dalu00ED featured the tesseract in his 1954 painting Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus), portraying Christ in front of a three-dimensional cross composed of eight cubes." } } ] } Top Questions What is a tesseract? A tesseract, also called a hypercube, is a geometric shape that is the four-dimensional equivalent of a three-dimensional cube.

　　Who introduced the tesseract? British mathematician Charles Howard Hinton introduced the tesseract in his books A New Era of Thought (1888) and The Fourth Dimension (1904).

　　How is a tesseract related to lower geometric dimensions? A tesseract extends the concept of dimensions, starting from a point (0-D), a line (1-D), a square (2-D), to a cube (3-D), and finally to a tesseract in 4-D, which consists of 8 cubes, 16 vertices, 24 faces, and 32 edges.

　　How is the tesseract used in science fiction? In science fiction, the tesseract is used as a theme in stories such as Robert Heinlein’s “—And He Built a Crooked House—” (1941) and Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time (1962), where it is used for space-time travel.

　　How has the tesseract been featured in fine art? Artist Salvador Dalí featured the tesseract in his 1954 painting Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus), portraying Christ in front of a three-dimensional cross composed of eight cubes.

　　tesseract, geometric shape that is the four-dimensional equivalent of the three-dimensional cube. Because a tesseract cannot be accurately pictured in two or three dimensions, it is often approximated as a cube within a cube. British mathematician Charles Howard Hinton first introduced the tesseract in his books A New Era of Thought (1888) and The Fourth Dimension (1904). The etymology of the word tesseract has been the source of some confusion. Hinton first spelled the word tessaract. This spelling combines the Greek word tessara, meaning “four,” with the Greek word act meaning “rays.” Thus, tessaract could mean “four rays,” referring to ...(100 of 883 words)

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