Thread: ""good books""

From: "liatsecret" <liatsecret@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 23 Jun 2005 09:44:23 -0000
Subject: "good books"



Hello all 4D cubists!

I am for now the newest solver of the 3^4 cube. I first solved it on
the online java applet at

http://www.plunk.org/~hatch/MagicCube4dApplet/

one day when my brother and parents were away for the whole day, so
that I had time for solving the whole cube in the same session.

But let me introduce me first: My name is Sebastian Dumitrescu and
I'm a Romanian living in Tampere, Finland. I first came here for one
school year in 2000-2001 and then came here second time in the
summer of 2003. I want to stay here for the rest of school (I have
two years of school left) and possibly for university. I'm 16 years
old. My main interests are music - I play violin and some clarinet
and piano - and mathematics. And of course, Rubik's cube.

I started cubing in 2003, when I still was in Romania. I learnt to
solve it (the 3x3x3) using a beginner's method learnt from an old
book. When I came to Finland I forgot about it for a while, but one
day in January 2004 I saw a guy with a cube so then I remembered
that I have one too. I learnt another solution from the web:

http://lar5.com

and now my record for solving the 3x3x3 is 21 seconds. An average
solve takes around 30 seconds.

Now for 4D cubing: I discovered the online java applet a while ago
and I solved the 2^4 cube in the winter holiday of this year. I used
algorithms (macros) invented by me, and that made it hard to solve
it again, because I always needed to re-find algorithms. This summer
I found how to use algorithms from the 3x3x3 method for the 3^4
(their effects are very much alike), and after that it became quite
easy to solve. The method I used is basically the same as for the
3x3x3 cube. I can detail it if you want me to.

More about me (and also my cubing story which is the same as the one
I just wrote above) at my website:

http://www.geocities.com/portoseb

Sebastian






From: Melinda Green <melinda@superliminal.com>
Date: Wed, 12 Oct 2005 22:58:24 -0700
Subject: Re: [MC4D] "good books"



Here are some more books. Text lifted directly from
http://www.math.ucf.edu/~reid/Rubik/index.html
I've read Singmaster's "Notes on Rubik's Magic Cube" which is short and
accessible.
-Melinda


4. Cube books

*Inside Rubik's Cube and Beyond*, by Christoph Bandelow, Birkhäuser
Boston, 1982. This is the best cube book ever written. Besides the
clever title, it also has a section on mathematical theory, a solution
understandable to the average person, amusing cartoons, an exceptional
collection of pretty patterns and maneuvers, and a flowchart for a
cube-solving program. The German edition of the book, *Einführung in die
Cubologie* is earlier, and not quite as complete as the English edition,
but I've heard it's also very good.

*Notes on Rubik's Magic Cube*, by David Singmaster, Enslow, 1981. The
first book to appear about the cube and the most influential. This book
popularized Singmaster's "FLUBRD" notation and other conventions which
have become standard. It's not as polished as Bandelow's book, but it
appeared much earlier. Appendices were added as new information was
discovered. You can see cube history unfold before your eyes as you read
them. It's still a classic.

*Winning Ways* (volume 2), by Elwyn Berlekamp, John Conway and Richard
Guy, Academic Press, 1982. It only has a brief section on Rubik's Cube,
but it's quite worthwhile. Many other games are discussed, including
Conway's Game of Life.

*Handbook of Cubik Math*, by Alexander Frey, Jr. and David Singmaster,
Enslow, 1982. This book supplements Singmaster's *Notes on Rubik's Magic
Cube*, by taking a closer look at the group theory behind the cube.

*Rubik's Cubic Compendium*, by Ernő Rubik, Tamas Varga, Gerzson Keri,
Gyorgy Marx and Tamas Vekerdy, Oxford University Press, 1987. English
translation of *A Buvös Kocka*, with an afterword by David Singmaster.

*Cubic Circular*, by David Singmaster. A short-lived periodical in 8
issues. They are now online at Jaap's page
, but you are
encouraged to purchase print versions from David Singmaster.

Also see Georges Helm's comprehensive collection of cube solutions
(nearly 600 items).



liatsecret wrote:

> Hi Ivan and all...:)
>
> sorry for the delay...
>
> Here are some books you might find interesting.
>
> You can find them on Amazon...
>
> 1) "A handbook of Cubik Math" by Alexander Frey and David Singmaster.
>
> 2) The other is Bizek's "mathematics of the rubic cube design".





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