Kalyani Tupkary

But while nature may mete out time’s passage in these horological devices, it takes human observation of the heavens to set them. Even the most precise atomic clock must be periodically tweaked to account for variations in the earth’s rotation. Some clocks, however, are tuned more directly to nature.

it describes the journeys of A. Square  [sic – ed.] , a mathematician and resident of the two-dimensional Flatland, where women-thin, straight lines-are the lowliest of shapes, and where men may have any number of sides, depending on their social status.

What used to be specific events or activities, like answering emails, have gradually become ongoing  processes . “Speeding up” a continuous process means to overclock, to intensify; it can’t ever mean to end or conclude