Macrocosm and microcosm

Macrocosm and microcosm is an ancient Greek Neo-Platonic schema of seeing the same patterns reproduced in all levels of the cosmos, from the largest scale (macrocosm or universe-level) all the way down to the smallest scale (microcosm or sub-sub-atomic or even metaphysical-level). In the system the midpoint is Man, who summarizes the cosmos.

Macrocosm/microcosm is a Greek compound of μακρο- macro- and μικρο- micro-, which are Greek respectively for "large" and "small", and the word κόσμος kósmos which means "order" as well as "world" or "ordered world."

Today, the concept of microcosm has been dominated by sociology to mean a small group of individuals whose behavior is typical of a larger social body encompassing it. A microcosm can be seen as a special kind of epitome. Conversely, a macrocosm is a social body made of smaller compounds.

See also

Macrocosm (album)

Macrocosm is the seventh studio album by the German electronic composer Peter Frohmader, released in 1990 by Cuneiform Records.

Track listing

All music composed by Peter Frohmader.

Personnel

Adapted from the Macrocosm liner notes.

Release history

References

Macrocosm (Star Trek: Voyager)

"Macrocosm" is the 54th episode of Star Trek: Voyager, the 12th episode of the third season. The title borrows the philosophical term macrocosm, definable as a larger world that mirrors what exists in a miniature world, or microcosm.

Plot

Captain Janeway and Neelix return to Voyager after completing a trade mission with the Tak Tak race, but find the ship adrift with no signs of life but no apparent damage. Aboard, they investigate the empty ship when Neelix is sprayed with a mucilaginous liquid by an unseen creature, leaving him faint and weak. When Janeway goes to locate medical supplies, Neelix is abducted by an unknown life form. She makes her way to the bridge to send out a distress signal and assess the situation, but is bitten by a flying insect-like creature while there. She locates the crew lying unconscious in the mess hall, with strange growths on their necks that allow more of the insect creatures to emerge. She is attacked by a human-size version of the insects, but is able to make her way to sickbay.

Maze

A maze is a path or collection of paths, typically from an entrance to a goal. The word is used to refer both to branching tour puzzles through which the solver must find a route, and to simpler non-branching ("unicursal") patterns that lead unambiguously through a convoluted layout to a goal. (The term "labyrinth" is generally synonymous, but also can connote specifically a unicursal pattern.) The pathways and walls in a maze are typically fixed, but puzzles in which the walls and paths can change during the game are also categorised as mazes or tour puzzles.

Maze construction

Mazes have been built with walls and rooms, with hedges, turf, corn stalks, hay bales, books, paving stones of contrasting colors or designs, and brick, or in fields of crops such as corn or, indeed, maize. Maize mazes can be very large; they are usually only kept for one growing season, so they can be different every year, and are promoted as seasonal tourist attractions. Indoors, Mirror Mazes are another form of maze, in which many of the apparent pathways are imaginary routes seen through multiple reflections in mirrors. Another type of maze consists of a set of rooms linked by doors (so a passageway is just another room in this definition). Players enter at one spot, and exit at another, or the idea may be to reach a certain spot in the maze. Mazes can also be printed or drawn on paper to be followed by a pencil or fingertip.

Maze (disambiguation)

A maze is a type of puzzle that consists of a complex branching passage through which the solver must find a route. See also: Celtic maze.

Maze or The Maze may also refer to:

Art, entertainment, and media

Fictional characters

Film

Games

Literature

Music

MAZE: Solve the World's Most Challenging Puzzle

MAZE: Solve the World's Most Challenging Puzzle (1985, Henry Holt and Company) is a puzzle book written and illustrated by Christopher Manson. The book was originally published as part of a contest to win $10,000.

Unlike other puzzle books, each page is involved in solving the book's riddle. Specifically, each page represents a room or space in a hypothetical house, and each room leads to other "rooms" in this "house." Part of the puzzle involves reaching the center of the house, Room #45 (which is page 45 in the book), and back to Room #1 in only sixteen steps. Some rooms lead to circuitous loops; others lead nowhere. This gives the puzzle the feel of a maze or labyrinth.

The book was adapted as the computer game Riddle of the Maze in 1994 by Interplay. This version featured full color illustrations and voice-overs for the narrator.

The contest has been void since 1987, but the book may still be purchased (ISBN 0-8050-1088-2).

Parts of the Puzzle