Cracking the Cube: Going Slow to Go Fast and Other Unexpected

Cracking the Cube: Going Slow to Go Fast and Other Unexpected Turns in the World of Competitive Rubik’s Cube Solving

A journalist and aspiring â€œspeedcuberâ€ attempts to break into the international phenomenon of speedsolving the Rubikâ€™s Cubeâ€”think chess played at the speed of Ping-Pongâ€”while exploring the Cubeâ€™s rise to iconic status around the globe and the lessons that can be learned through solving it.

When Hungarian professor ErnÅ‘ Rubik invented the Rubikâ€™s Cube (or, rather, his Cube) in the 1970s out of wooden blocks, rubber bands, and paper clips, he didnâ€™t even know if it could be solved, let alone that it would become the worldâ€™s most popular puzzle. Since its creation, the Cube has become many things to many people: one of the bestselling childrenâ€™s toys of all time, a symbol of intellectual prowess, a frustrating puzzle with 43.2 quintillion possible permutations, and now a worldwide sporting phenomenon that is introducing the classic brainteaser to a new generation.

In Cracking the Cube, Ian Scheffler reveals that cubing isnâ€™t just fun and games. Along with participating in speedcubing competitionsâ€”from the World Championship to local tournamentsâ€”and interviewing key figures from the Cubeâ€™s history, he journeys to Budapest to seek a meeting with the legendary and notoriously reclusive Rubik, who is still tinkering away with puzzles in his seventies.

Getting sucked into the competitive circuit himself, Scheffler becomes engrossed in solving Rubikâ€™s Cube in under twenty seconds, the quasi-mystical barrier known as â€œsub-20,â€ which is to cubing what four minutes is to the mile: the difference between the best and everyone else. For Scheffler, the road to sub-20 is not just about memorizing algorithms or even solving the Rubikâ€™s Cube. As he learns from the many gurus who cross his path, from pint-sized kids to engineering professors, itâ€™s about learning to solve yourself.

Country	USA
Author	Ian Scheffler
Binding	Hardcover
Brand	SIMON AND SCHUSTER
EAN	9781501121920
Feature	Rubik's Cube Ian Scheffler
ISBN	1501121928
Label	Touchstone
Manufacturer	Touchstone
MPN	9781501121920
NumberOfItems	1
NumberOfPages	288
PartNumber	9781501121920
PublicationDate	2016-10-18
Publisher	Touchstone
ReleaseDate	2016-10-18
Studio	Touchstone

Cracking the Cube: Going Slow to Go Fast and Other Unexpected Turns in the World of Competitive Rubik’s Cube Solving

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