Frey A.H., Singmaster D. Handbook of Cubik Math

Enslow Publications, 1982. — 204 p.A study of the theory of groups that underlies Rubik's cube. Some Advance Comments on HANDBOOK OF CUBIK MATH. There is no more enjoyable way to learn the basics of group theory than to study this book carefully with (of course) Rubik's Cube in your hands. It is by all odds the best book yet written, or likely to be written, on the wonders and the dark, unsolved mysteries of the cube. Think not that the cube is just a toy. As Frey and Singmaster make clear, it is one of the most amazing teaching aids in the entire history of mathematics.This handbook gives a fascinating account of the relationship between the Rubik's Cube puzzle and an area of higher mathematics known as the theory of finite groups. The discussion is careful and lucid and should be accessible to anyone willing to think carefully about the cube. It should be particularly useful for high-school students interested in the cube and also as a supplement for a college course covering finite groups.