0-Cube, 1-Cube, 2-Cube, 3-Cube, 4-Cube and Beyond

0-Cube is a point: it is a geometric object rather poor, it is impossible to dra

w it because it's so small that we can't see, it has no dimension. It is a sign
as Euclid said. However, we can represent it crudely and can guess its being by
drawing a much small disk.
1-Cube is a segment closed at its extremes: it is a straight object, which lies
equally with respect to its points, as Euclid said, but so thin that we can not
see, it's sheer length and has a single dimension. One approximate way to grasp
the meaning of its being, it's to draw a taut wire or to think of a much distant
airplane, so far that it seems to be a 0-Cube, leaving, for a bit of time, a ve
ry thin trail through the clouds. It isn't much to say on the 1-Cube except the
fact that its extremes are two, indeed they are two 0-cubes.
Little else to report about this object if you do not want to listen to those wh
o, to satisfy a need for absolute rigor, they renounce the drawing and the cloud
s and think that 1-Cube is a set formed by particular numbers, more precisely fr
om all real numbers x such that: x is greater or equal than 0 and smaller or eq
ual than 1.
2-Cube is a square: it is a flat object, that lies equally with respect to its s
traight lines, as Euclid said, without thickness. For this reason also 2-Cube is
an abstract object, which we can t be seen. It only has two dimensions: a width a
nd a length. For those who are content with an approximate image, you can draw a
square and get an idea of the nature of 2-Cube. Its extreme parts have a certai
n interest: there are four sides that are 1-Cubes and even four vertices that ar
e 0-Cubes.
The rigorous one thinks of the numbers and imagines 2-Cube as the set of ordered
pairs (x, y) of real numbers such that (consider also the sign "=" to the extre
mes of the range 0 - 1):
0 <x <1
0 <y <1
3-Cube is the only object that we can "really" see and manipulate in our "physic
al space". For this reason, 3-Cube deserves also other more familiar names like
Cube or Nut. Each of us has played with these 3-Cubes and had to do with its si
x faces, six 2-Cubes that surround it. At the extremes we also have twelve 1-Cub
es (edges) and eight 0-Cubes (vertices). The structure of the Nut is so familia
r that it is not worth to add other. Some insist to want to draw the 3-Cube on
a sheet of paper and to do this they are obliged to flatten a dimension. Through
various means (orthographic projection, perspective projection, shadow, or othe
r) we can give the illusion of depth, perhaps because the nut is so familiar tha
t you recognize it immediately in an also uncertain drawing.
The rigorous one, who even doubts the fact that the "physical space" has "reall
y" three dimensions, insists with the numbers and he imagines a cube as consist
ing of all ordered triples of real numbers (x, y, z) for which (consider also th
e sign "=" to the extremes of the range 0 - 1):
0 < x <1
0 < y < 1
0 < z < 1
For him, the faces are extreme triples for which either the x or y or z is fixed
(consider also the sign "=" to the extremes of the range 0 - 1):
(0, y, z) with 0 <y <1 and 0 <z <1
(1, y, z) with 0 <y <1 and 0 <z <1
(x, 0, z) with 0 <x <1 and 0 <z <1
(x, 1, z) with 0 <x <1 and 0 <z <1
(x, y, 0) with 0 <x <1 and 0 <y <1
(x, y, 1) with 0 <x <1 and 0 <y <1

The 12 edges are the extreme-extreme triples for which two variables are fixed (
consider also the sign "=" to the extremes of the range 0 -1):
(0,0, z), (0,1, z), (1,0, z), (1,1, z), with 0 <z <1
(0, y, 0), (0, y, 1), (1, y, 0), (1, y, 1) with 0 <y <1
(x, 0,0), (x, 0,1), (x, 1,0), (x, 1,1) with 0 <x <1
While the vertices are 8 extreme-extreme-extreme triples
(0,0,0), (0,0,1), (0,1,0), (0,1,1), (1,0,0), (1,0,1), (1 , 1,0), (1,1,1)
4-cube or tesseract lives into space with 4 dimensions. In this case, the rigoro
us one has the better with its coordinates. He has no difficulty in defining 4-C
ube as the set of ordered tetrads of real numbers (x, y, z, w) for which (consid
er also the sign "=" to the extremes of the range 0 - 1):
0 <x <1
0 <y <1
0 <z <1
0 <w <1
In addition to this, he can easily calculate the two ends of so interesting obje
ct: there are 8 cubes, 24 squares, 32 edges and 16 vertices!
But the triumph of the rigorous one is that he can even dare to consider 5-Cube
and then 6-Cube and to go ahead and up who knows where. We remain a bit bewilder
ed.
Someone, some imaginative sculptor, tries to realize the 4-cube in the three-dim
ensional "physical space" and tries to do as you do with the cube when you want
to represent it in the plane. He make two cubes: a transparent large one in the
"first space", within which he takes a smaller second and imagines it out, in a
"second space" then he links the two cubes with 6 other cubes that in the three
-dimensional representation have become a bit trapezoidal, but he continues to i
magine them how they were cubes. Walking around this 4-Cub, you will find its 8
cubes, 24 squares, its 32 edges and 16 vertices by which it is formed .