The Cube: The Ultimate Guide to the World's Best-selling Puzzle: Secrets, Stories, Solutions

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Overview

Just in time to satisfy the kids of all ages who received Rubik's Cubes as holiday gifts, here is the book to ensure that the gift won’t go unused (or unsolved).

Puzzle Masters Jerry Slocum, David Singmaster, Dieter Gebhardt, Wei-Hwa Huang, and Geert Hellings, share their expertise on the greatest puzzle ever created. Not only does The Cube provide dozens of strategies for competitive cubing—including speedcubing—it also shows you how to solve every kind of cube that exists: the "Mini Cube" 2x2x2; the "Classic" 3x3x3; the "Rubik's Revenge" 4x4x4; the "Professor's Cube" 5x5x5; and the largest cubes available, the "V-Cube 6" 6x6x6 and the "V-Cube 7" 7x7x7. The book even includes modular instructions for cubes of any potential size! All solutions are fully illustrated with all-new, easy-to-follow instructions created specially for this book.

This unique book also includes a fascinating history of the Rubik's Cube—from its invention in 1974 by Ernö Rubik to the '80s craze to its resurgence today, including dozens of rare photographs of vintage cubes, ephemera, and more!

Packed with color photos from Jerry Slocum's extensive and unique collection of mechanical puzzles, The Cube is a must-have companion to the ultimate brainteaser.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781579128050
Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, Inc.
Publication date: 3/11/2009
Pages: 142
Sales rank: 152,277
Product dimensions: 7.90 (w) x 8.40 (h) x 1.70 (d)

Meet the Author

Jerry Slocum is a historian, collector, and author specializing in the field of mechanical puzzles. His personal puzzle collection, numbering over 40,000 mechanical puzzles and 4,500 books, is believed to be one of the world's largest.

David Singmaster is a retired professor of mathematics at London South Bank University, England, who is most famous for his solution to the Rubik's cube.

Dieter Gebhardt has published over 70 articles on puzzles and is considered a leading expert in the field of rotational puzzles.

Wei-Hwa Huang is a four-time World Puzzle Champion and one of the first few people in the world to have solved an actual 6x6x6 and 7x7x7 Cube.

Geert Hellings began collecting rotational puzzles in the early nineties and is currently the President of NKC, the Nederlandse Kubus Club (Dutch Cube Club), an association with 500 members from all over the world.

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Christopher_Morgan

Posted March 26, 2009

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The Definitive Book about Rubik's Cube

Jerry Slocum's book, "The Cube," is the definitive reference about Rubik's cube, the biggest puzzle craze of the past hundred years. Even old hands at the puzzle will discover new information about the puzzle's history, its antecedents, the scores of spin-off puzzles inspired by it, and all the cube ephemera, including t-shirts, key chains, and even postage stamps.

"The Cube" features contributions from Rubik's cube experts around the world. It includes simple, step-by-step instructions and clear color diagrams for solving the cube. The solutions to all the rotational cube puzzles in production today are included, starting with the 3x3x3 Rubik's cube, and proceeding up to the mind-boggling 7x7x7 cube! This really makes the book unique.

The fortieth anniversary of Rubik's cube may be just a few years away, but the puzzle continues to fascinate new generations of fans. Erno Rubik says in the introduction that "Back in 1974, not in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that in 2008 I would be writing an introduction to a book about Rubik's Cube."

I recently witnessed the cube's drawing power at a gathering of puzzle aficionados in Holland, where a group of teenagers competed to solve Rubik's cubes in just seconds -- while blindfolded!

Jerry Slocum has been a world-renowned puzzle authority for many years, and "The Cube" is a must-have for puzzle fans everywhere. He and his team of contributors have done a great service to the many puzzlers who can never quite get enough of "the cube". (Full disclosure: some of my photographs were used in the book).

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Andy_Liu

Posted April 22, 2009

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The Cube --- the Ultimate Guide to the World's Bestselling Puzzle By Jerry Slocum With David Singmaster, Wei-Hwa Huang, Dieter Gebhardt and Geert Hellings Published by Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers, New York 2009, ISBN 978-1-57912-805-0, soft co

The Cube is the short title of a recent publication that I highly recommend. It is a tribute to the puzzle craze in the early 1980's that readers automatically associate the title with the correct object, Rubik's Cube. This is an ingenious invention of the Hungarian engineer Erno Rubik, and the American mass market has propelled it to a cult status.
America has often been regarded as a cultural desert. This is perhaps not without justice, but certainly not without reason. It simply takes time to develop the kind of culture that has come down to us from earlier civilizations. The modern world faces a population the size of which is unprecedented in history. Thus its attention has shifted from the elite to the masses, resulting in dime novels and other limpid forms of literature.
Nevertheless, there is one aspect of the American culture that does not take second place to anywhere else in the world, and that is culture with a scientific and technological bent. The writing of the legendary Martin Gardner is well documented. Of equal significance is the fascinating world of mechanical puzzles centered on Jerry Slocum of Beverly Hills. He is the founder of the International Puzzle Party and the Slocum Puzzle Foundation. He will eventually donate his entire puzzle collection of over 30,000 items to the Lilly Library at Bloomington, Indiana. The process has started with a Grand Opening of the Slocum Room in 2006.
Jerry is both an authority and an expert in the history of puzzles. He has written a number of monumental treatises on the subject, such as The Tangram Book and The 15 Puzzle Book. Besides drawing from his extensive puzzle library and collaborating with other puzzlists, Jerry regularly goes on field trips to conduct on-site research on the topic. His books are based on sound methodology and developed with meticulous care. They are most definitely not boring like some historical documents could be. A trademark of a Slocum book is that it is profusely and lavishly illustrated, each picture with a good reason for its inclusion.
The Cube is no exception. In less than 150 pages, readers will find a full documentary of the history of the Cube, with an introduction from the inventor. David Singmaster, one of the co-authors, is the leader of the cult in its early days. Various events and diverse persona associated with the puzzle are described in detail, including an advance announcement of the availability of the 6 by 6 by 6 and the 7 by 7 by 7 Cubes. Readers are also exposed to a huge collection of puzzles derived from the Cube.
Saving the best to the last, the final section of the book contains a full solution of the Cube of sizes up to 7. Here, one can detect the finger prints of Wei-Hwa Huang, another co-author who is a four-time individual champion at the annual World Puzzle Championship, and a wizard at Google.
At the list price of $12.95, this is a bargain which is impossible to pass up, even if you have been isolated from civilization and have not even heard of the Cube before. This is American culture at its best.

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The Cube: The Ultimate Guide to the World's Best-selling Puzzle: Secrets, Stories, Solutions

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The Definitive Book about Rubik's Cube

The Cube --- the Ultimate Guide to the World's Bestselling Puzzle By Jerry Slocum With David Singmaster, Wei-Hwa Huang, Dieter Gebhardt and Geert Hellings Published by Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers, New York 2009, ISBN 978-1-57912-805-0, soft co