| David Singmaster | |
|---|---|
 March 2006 |
|
| Born | 1939 USA |
| Occupation | Retired professor of mathematics |
| Known for | Mathematics of puzzles |
David Breyer Singmaster (born 1939 USA [1]) is a retired professor of mathematics at London South Bank University, England, UK. A self-described metagrobologist, he is most famous for his solution to the Rubik's cube and his huge personal collection of mechanical puzzles and books of brainteasers. He is also interested in the history of computers.
He is known for the following:
- Encountering Erno Rubik's "Magic Cube" (the first test batches were manufactured in Hungary in late 1977), at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Helsinki in August 1978 and later taking some to England for distribution amongst interested friends and colleagues (mainly in academic circles). He wrote a newspaper article about the Magic Cube in June 1979, which was the first to appear outside Hungary. In 1980, when the Cube was re-manufactured and renamed "Rubik's Cube", David Singmaster wrote: "… the Magic Cube is now being sold as Rubik's Cube… [the Ideal Toy Corp.] has renamed the cube as 'Rubik's Cube' on the grounds that 'magic' tends to be associated with magic."
- Research on the multiplicities of entries in Pascal's triangle; see in particular Singmaster's conjecture.
- Regular appearances on the BBC Radio 4 panel game, Puzzle Panel.
Contents |
Magazines
David Singmaster privately published a short run intermittent magazine dealing mostly with the Cube and also other puzzles, called the Cubic Circular. The first issue was in Summer 1981. Several times issues were combined due to late publication and the final publication, combining issues 7 and 8, was published in Summer of 1985. Through the magazine David also made available for sale a large variety of unusual physical puzzles.
Books
- Notes on Rubik's magic cube, David Singmaster. Enslow Pub Inc, 1981. ISBN 0-8949-0043-9.
- Handbook of Cubik Math, David Singmaster and Alexander Frey. The Lutterworth Press, 1987. ISBN 0-7188-2555-1.
- Rubik's Cube Compendium,Edited by David Singmaster Oxford University Press , 21 April, 1988. ISBN 0-1985-3202-4.
See also
References
External links
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