[Maths-Education] Mazes and Labarinths

[Laurinda Brown]

You who are about to enter ...

In today's world of muddle and disarray, "maz" or "labyrinth" has 
become a farvourite simile to describe the difficulty of 
communication, the complexity of modern technology, the tangled skein 
of our lives. The metaphor has almost superseded the literal meaning of 
the word. The forcefulness of the figuarative term is in turn spawning 
an interest and demand for the real thing. Hardly a year had passed 
after the Achbishop of Canturbury in his Enthronement address had used 
the metaphor of the maze, than a real maze had been built to 
commemorate his words. 

The most telling manifestation of this revival of interest in the maze 
was the international exhibition "In Labirinto" held in Milan in 1980 
under the auspices of Jorge Luis Borges, the great SA poet of 
labyrinthism. Similarly, the Beatles' Maze at the 1984 International 
Garden Festival in Liverpool was the most popular attraction of that 
festival, with nearly a million visitors going through it in six months.

Yet, only a decade earlier the puzzle maze was almost a forgotten 
artefact, neglected by man and invaded by nature. Back in 1922, W H 
Matthews was begging: "Let us at any rate se to it that no more of 
these rare and interesting heirlooms are lost to us through ignorance 
or neglect". Further back in the 16th century, Shakespeare was 
observing:
"The nine men's morris is filled up with mud,
and the maze, through lack of tread, is indistinguishable".

Now in our secular society, the maze has become a feature of amusement 
parks, an ornament of privileged gardens. The revival of symbolism in 
the maze, investing it with spiritual or worldly meaning, has brought 
us back to qwareness of the archetypal labyrinth.

As old as man, the labyrinth had landmarked his migrations nad 
polarid=sed his settlements. It was the cerebral and visceral 
projection of himself on the face of the earth. Graven on rock, marked 
out in boulders, laid in mosaic or marble, delineated in turf or chalk, 
it was the first human imprint, the venue for ancient ritual, a pattern 
for rythmic dance, an arena for amorous contests. Its womb-like embrace 
inspired primevale awe. It signified the mracle of provreation and 
growth, the ordeal of decline and death, and the mystery of afterlife. 
To experience that ultimate goal required personal involvement, the 
understanding of fear, the acceptance of sacrifince whichi central to 
the myth of the Cretan labyrinth.

Four more paragraphs coming after a tutorial or two with PGCE students 
- 

>From a Celebration of Mazes by Randoll Coate, Adrian Fisher, Graham 
Burgess

Laurinda
On Mon, 18 Jun 2001 12:42:52 +0100 Peter Gates 
<peter.gates@nottingham.ac.uk> wrote:

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> 
> Someone has just asked me whether there is a difference between a maze and
> a labyrinth. Now i have a feeling there is, but cant remember what it is,
> or where to look. Without any jokes about government departments, does
> anyone know the difference or where I might find a resource for it?
> 
> I have a suspicion it is something to do with patterns and structure.
> 
> 
> 
> 
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> Centre for the Study of Mathematics Education
> School of Education
> University of Nottingham
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----------------------
Laurinda Brown
Laurinda.Brown@bristol.ac.uk

0117-9287019