Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1980-1982 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
4 pamphlets, 4 newsletters
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
David Breyer Singmaster (b.1939) was a Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at London South Bank University. A self-described metagrobologist, Singmaster became famous for his solution to the Rubik's cube, known as the "Singmaster notation" and his large personal collection of mechanical puzzles and books of brainteasers.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
The most popular method for solving the Rubik Cube was developed by David Singmaster and published in the book Notes on Rubik's "Magic Cube" in 1981. This solution involves solving the Cube layer by layer, in which one layer (designated the top) is solved first, followed by the middle layer, and then the final and bottom layer. After practice, solving the Cube layer by layer can be done in under one minute. Other general solutions include "corners first" methods or combinations of several other methods. In 1982, David Singmaster and Alexander Frey hypothesised that the number of moves needed to solve the Rubik's Cube, given an ideal algorithm, might be in "the low twenties".
Written by David Singmaster whilst working in the School of Computing, Information Systems and Mathematics at South Bank University.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
- English