The Rubik's Cube is the world's best-known puzzle, a magical object that has baffled and fascinated the world for over fifty years. This clearly-illustrated step-by-step guide teaches you a foolproof beginners' method for solving the Cube, plus advanced techniques if you want to learn to solve it in seconds. An Official Guide to cracking the cube!

David Joyner uses mathematical toys such as the Rubik's Cube to make abstract algebra and group theory fun. This updated second edition uses SAGE, an open-source computer algebra system, to illustrate many of the computations.

On January 30, 1975 Ernd Rubik j r., professor of architecture and design in Budapest, was granted the Hungarian patent number 170062 for a "terbeli logikai jatek"--A game of spatial logic. Between 1978 and March 1981 this object-Bt1vos Kocka in Hungary, der Magische Wiirfel or Zauberwiirfel in Germany, Ie Cube Hongrois in France and the Magic Cube or Rubik' s Cube in Great Britain and the USA-has sold more than ten million copies. And they were not merely sold! A highly contagious "twist mania" has been spreading throughout families, offices and waiting rooms. Many classrooms sound as if an army of mice were hard at work behind the desks. What is so fascinating about this cube, which competes with Hungar ian salami and the famous Tokajer wine in the currency-winning export market? For one thing, it is an amazing technical tool. How does it work? Moreover, the contrast between its innocent, innocuous appearance and the hidden difficulty of its solution offers a serious challenge to all puzzle fans, but especially to those mathematicians who are profeSSionally concerned with logical deduction

'More than just a memoir. A manifesto for a whole way of thinking' Daily Mail 'An idiosyncratic and gripping memoir about his life and the indomitable career of the Cube' Observer 'The rise and enduring power of the world's most popular puzzle toy . . . Cubed is less a memoir than a chronicle of Rubik's evolving relationship with his creation' Financial Times *** As a child, Erno Rubik became obsessed with puzzles of all kinds. To him, they weren't just games - they were challenges that captured his imagination, creativity and perseverance. Rubik's own puzzle went on to be solved by millions worldwide, becoming one of the bestselling toys of all time. In Cubed, he tells us the story of the unexpected and unprecedented rise of the Cube for the very first time - and makes a case for why rediscovering our playfulness and inner curiosity holds the key to creative thinking.