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There must be very few if any other artifacts in the arts and sciences having the capability of transcending cultural barriers as do geometrical recreations. Show a dissection puzzle to persons anywhere in the world (or beyond!) and they are likely to grasp its simple message and start playing with it. Consider also their timelessness. Anyone who spends much time pondering the mysteries of the polyhedra must sense a profound kinship with past cultures that have likewise come under their spell. Are we not all Pythagoreans?
Did children of yet far more ancient times fit together clay blocks into toy pyramids or, more likely, walls and fortifications of geometrical design? Gazing in awe into the star-studded sky, one can only wonder if other cultures in other worlds ponder these same geometrical puzzles.
The educational potential of geometrical puzzles does not seem to have been very fully exploited. A fascinating course in mathematics and logic could be constructed around some of the puzzles in this book. At the same time, think of all the other related subjects that could be tied in with it - history, art and sculpture, manual arts, philosophy, psychology - perhaps even the rudiments of Freudian analysis!
| ©1990-2005 by Stewart T. Coffin For questions or comments regarding this site, contact the chief metagrobologist: |
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