David Singmaster (1938–2023)

When I was in college, I was naive in believing that learning to solve a Rubiks Cube would win me all sorts of new friends. That didn't turn out quite the way I had hoped, but thankfully I still made friends, and some of them also shared my passion for this wondrous invention.

Jerry Slocum's The Cube opens with a history of the Rubiks Cube which is interspersed with a few tangents on puzzles in general, but most of the book, as the subtitle indicates, is devoted to the cube's many ingenious show more and surprisingly artful solutions. show less

Indeholder "Introduction to the fifth edition", "Contents", "1. Introduction (to the first printed edition)", "2. Generalities", " Disassembly", "3. Notation", "4. Some group theory", "5. Some explorations", " A. The slice group", " B. The slice-squared group", " C. Two squares group", " D. The antislice group", " E. The two generator group", " F. Some simple processes", "6. The Basic Mathematical Problem", "7. Further problems", " A. The supergroup", " B. The three generator groups", " C. show more The four generator groups", " D. The five generator group", " E. The square group", " F. The maximal order problem", " G. The commutator subgroup", " H. Pretty patterns", " I. Super problems", "8. Some answers and comments", " The slice group", " The slice-squared group;", " Two squares group", " The antislice group", " The two generator group", " The supergroup", "9. Supplement on the Basic Mathematical Problem", " A. Improved edge processes", " B. Monoflips and monotwists", " C. Some further improved corner processes", " D. An improved algorithm", " E. Problem 19", "10. Some results on further problems", " A. Orders of subgroups", " B. The five generator group", " C. The maximal order problem", " D. The commutator subgroup", " E. Pretty patterns", " F. More magic polyhedra", "Addenda (to the first edition)", "Addenda (to the second edition)", "Addenda (to the third edition)", " The slice group", " Some problems", "Addenda (to the fourth edition)", " Minimum number of moves", " The Magic Domino", "Addenda to the fifth edition", " 5.1 Lubrication", " 5.2 Distribution of the cube", " 5.3 Independent invention", " 5.4 General anecdotes", " 5.5 Competitions and shortest times", " 5.6 Problem 19 - Maximum number of moves to restore the cube", " A. Thistlethwaite's algorithm", " B. Other algorithms", " 5.7. New notation and diagrams", " A. U notation", " 5.8. A small catalogue of processes", " A. U edgeprocesses", " i. Two 2-cycles", " ii. One 3-cycle", " iii. Flips", " B. U corner processes", " i. Two 2-cycles", " ii. One 3-cycle", " iii. Twists", " C. Some other U processes", " D. Some non-U processes", " E. Edge(s) into middle slice processes", " F. Supergroup processes", " G. Comments on useful new partial processes", "5.9. Pretty patterns", " A. Symmetries of the cube and the centres group", " B. The simpler pretty patterns", " C. More complex pretty patterns", "5.10. Theoretical developments and problems", " A. The U group", " B. Generation of the whole group", " C. Presentations", " D. Orders of elements", " E. The two-dimensional problem", " F. Cayley graphs and antipodes", " G. The square group - 2 x 2 x 2 case", " H. The antislice group", " I. The square group - 3 x 3 x 3 case", " J. The two generator group", " K. The group ", " L. Conjugation and cycle structure", " M. Wreath products", " N. The 2 x 2 x 2 cube", "5.11. Miscellany", "Bibliography", "Index", "A step-by-step solution to Rubik's 'Magic Cube'".

En total guldgrube af viden om Rubiks terning. Samtidig et indblik i matematikere der samarbejder om at beskrive og løse interessante problemer. Absolut topkarakter. Har lidt med om dominoen - 2 x 3 x 3. Indeholder også et væld af smukke mønstre, bruger en kompakt og effektiv notation og slutter med en meget lang litteraturliste. Her er nemt stof til måneder på en øde ø.
Absolut at anbefale show less

senza computer non si va molto avanti

I metagrobologisti sarebbero gli studiosi di giochi matematici. O almeno dice cosi David Singmaster (che i più anziani di voi ricorderanno come esperto del cubo di Rubik) in questo libro. In effetti parecchi tra i più di duecento giochi presenti ha una fonte tipicamente risalente al passato e una correzione delle risposte date in quelle sedi. Devo però dire che non ho molto apprezzato il testo, perché in genere occorre un computer per trovare le show more soluzioni ai problemi: quasi informatica (applicata) ricreativa più che matematica ricreativa. Carta e penna vanno bene, ma così si esagera... show less