1. The Magic of Rubik’s Cube Karen Gillispie

2. The Magic of the Cube n Ancient Greeks considered cube one of special Platonic solids n Six faces; each of nine squares on every side is one of six colors n Fastest selling toy in world history n Amusing to children; frustrating for adults

3. Father of the Cube Erno Rubik --1974

4. Birth of the Cube n Rubik applied for patent--1975 n Production in Budapest n Tibor Laczi introduces Ideal Toys to Rubik n 1984--Federal court rules Rubik’s Cube infringes on Nichol’s patent

5. Similar Cubes of the 1970’s n Terutoshi Ishige –applied for Japanese patent –same mechanism as Cube n Larry Nichols –patents 2 X 2 X 2 –rejected repeatedly –cube held together with magnets

6. The world is stumped... n Mathematicians search for “God’s algorithm” n Clubs, contests, races, championships n Books, magazines n “Cube smasher” n Television fame

7. Solving the Cube n Rubik needed three months to solve cube n Random twists and turns –3^8 x 2^12 x 8! x 12! conceivable arrangements –one cube solved every three centuries n Sequence of steps –reduces to 80-120 twists

8. Solutions and Related Notations n Notation of each side based on orientation to you –front (F), back (B), right (R), left (L), up (U), and down (D) n Notation for turns –clockwise (), counterclockwise (‘), and half- turn (“) –R --clockwise quarter turn of right face –F” --half-turn of front face –B’ --counterclockwise quarter turn of back

9. Sequences n To get thisfrom this –you simply use F’U’F. n To get this from this –you simply use FRUR’U’RUR’U’RUR’U’F’ n Using similar sequences will solve the entire puzzle

10. “We turn the Cube and it twists us.” --Rubik

11. Sources n Winning Way for Your Mathematical Plays. Volume 2: Games in Particular. Berlekamp, Elwin; Conway, John; Guy, Richard. Copyright 1982. Academic Press: New York. n http://www.olefsky.com/cube n Discover. The Perplexing Life of Erno Rubik. March 1986. v7. p81. Copyright Family Media Inc. 1986. n http://web.idirect.com/~cubeman/cchrono.html