Writing
Nourse wrote the book at the age of 33 while on the staff of the Chemistry Department atPublication
The book was published June 1981. It became the best-selling book of 1981, selling 6,680,000 copies that year. It was the fastest-selling title in the 36-year history ofContent
The book begins with a summary of the history of the development of the Rubik's cube by Ernö Rubik and apparently independently by Terutoshi Ishige. The James Nourse method has several features that distinguish it from others: * It is guaranteed to work * It offers clear and steady progress * It presents few and uncomplicated decisions * It allows for error * It features a low number of easy to memorize sequences of moves * It is independent of colour The book's solution to the cube was considered to be one of the easiest, simplest, and most straightforward solutions to solving the cube.Other Methods
Many later solutions to Rubik's Cube published on the internet seem to be based at least in part on the solution in this book. The relatively few sequences one is required to memorize makes it one of the easiest solutions to remember — but this incurs the cost of a relatively high number of moves for a solution — about 100 moves average according to the book on page 54. The author claims he can solve random cube problems by this method in about 2 1/2 minutes (IBID p.54). However, this ease and simplicity involves a tradeoff in that this solution takes longer than other solutions that are harder and more complex.Nomenclature
In his book, Nourse used an original notation different from that of David Singmaster, which was not yet widely known in 1981. What Nourse called T and B (for Top and Bottom), became popularly known as U and D (for Up and Down). To avoid single-letter ambiguity, the rear face is called Posterior, represented by P (although none of the algorithms presented in the book actually uses the posterior face in its move sequences). Clockwise and counterclockwise moves are made explicit with + and − (instead of relying on primes to denote counterclockwise, and their absence to denote clockwise). Thus, for example, Nourse gives the algorithm for rotating three corners of the bottom face anticlockwise (solving the position Lars Petrus named the "Sune") as follows: R− B− R+ B− R− B2 R+ B2 In Singmaster's notation, the same move sequence would be written: R' D' R D' R' D2 R D2Speed Cubing
The book mentions speed cubing on page 56 — citing the following times: * 20 minutes - whiz * 10 minutes - speed demon * 5 minutes - expert * 3 minutes - master of cube (M.C.) As of April 2025, the modern record for speed cubing is 3.05 seconds, set by Xuanyi Geng of China.Cube Games
The book ends with a section detailing various patterns one can create with the cube, including: Shooting Star, Boxes, spelling the words 'OHIO', and 'JACK', and a cubic alphabet to form 3x3 letters of the alphabet from A-Z. (IBID p.59)HelpCard
The following HelpCard provides a one-page synopsis of the solution detailed in the book.References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simple Solution to Rubik's Cube Rubik's Cube 1981 non-fiction books Books about games Bantam Books books