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David Singmaster
 
 
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David Breyer Singmaster (born 1939 USA ) is a retired professor
Professor

The meaning of the word professor varies. In some English-speaking countries, it refers to a senior academic who holds a departmental chair, especially as head of the Academic department, or a personal chair awarded specifically to that individual....
 of mathematics
Mathematics

Mathematics is the study of quantity, structure, space, change, and related topics of pattern and form. Mathematicians seek out patterns whether found in numbers, space, natural science, computers, imaginary abstractions, or elsewhere....
 at London South Bank University
London South Bank University

'London South Bank University' is one of the oldest university in central London with over 23,000 students and 1,700 staff based in the London Borough of Southwark....
, England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
, UK
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
. A self-described metagrobologist
Metagrobology

Metagrobology is the study of puzzles. Thus a metagrobolist is one who practices or makes puzzles. Famous metagrobologists include Nob Yoshigahara and David Singmaster....
, he is most famous for his solution to the Rubik's cube
Rubik's Cube

File:Rubik's cube.svgThe Rubik's Cube is a 3-D mechanical puzzle invented in 1974 by Hungary sculptor and professor of architecture Erno Rubik....
 and his huge personal collection of mechanical puzzle
Mechanical puzzle

A mechanical puzzle is a puzzle presented as a set of mechanically interlinked pieces....
s and books of brainteaser
BrainTeaser

BrainTeaser was a United Kingdom game show, first broadcast in 2002, produced by Endemol UK subsidiary Cheetah Productions.BrainTeaser was live television, with phone-in viewer puzzles being announced and played during the show in addition to the studio....
s. He is also interested in the history of computers.

He is known for the following:



d Singmaster privately published a short run intermittent magazine dealing mostly with the Cube and also other puzzles, called the Cubic Circular.






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David Breyer Singmaster (born 1939 USA ) is a retired professor
Professor

The meaning of the word professor varies. In some English-speaking countries, it refers to a senior academic who holds a departmental chair, especially as head of the Academic department, or a personal chair awarded specifically to that individual....
 of mathematics
Mathematics

Mathematics is the study of quantity, structure, space, change, and related topics of pattern and form. Mathematicians seek out patterns whether found in numbers, space, natural science, computers, imaginary abstractions, or elsewhere....
 at London South Bank University
London South Bank University

'London South Bank University' is one of the oldest university in central London with over 23,000 students and 1,700 staff based in the London Borough of Southwark....
, England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
, UK
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
. A self-described metagrobologist
Metagrobology

Metagrobology is the study of puzzles. Thus a metagrobolist is one who practices or makes puzzles. Famous metagrobologists include Nob Yoshigahara and David Singmaster....
, he is most famous for his solution to the Rubik's cube
Rubik's Cube

File:Rubik's cube.svgThe Rubik's Cube is a 3-D mechanical puzzle invented in 1974 by Hungary sculptor and professor of architecture Erno Rubik....
 and his huge personal collection of mechanical puzzle
Mechanical puzzle

A mechanical puzzle is a puzzle presented as a set of mechanically interlinked pieces....
s and books of brainteaser
BrainTeaser

BrainTeaser was a United Kingdom game show, first broadcast in 2002, produced by Endemol UK subsidiary Cheetah Productions.BrainTeaser was live television, with phone-in viewer puzzles being announced and played during the show in addition to the studio....
s. 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
    England

    native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
     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
    Rubik's Cube

    File:Rubik's cube.svgThe Rubik's Cube is a 3-D mechanical puzzle invented in 1974 by Hungary sculptor and professor of architecture Erno Rubik....
    … [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
    BBC Radio 4

    BBC Radio 4 is a domestic UK radio station that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history....
     panel game, Puzzle Panel
    Puzzle Panel

    Puzzle Panel was a light-hearted, though cerebral BBC Radio 4 panel game that was broadcast between 1998 and 2005. It was written and presented by puzzle columnist for The Guardian, Chris Maslanka....
    .


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

  • , David Singmaster. Enslow Pub Inc, 1981. ISBN 0-8949-0043-9.
  • , David Singmaster and Alexander Frey. The Lutterworth Press, 1987. ISBN 0-7188-2555-1.
  • ,Edited by David Singmaster Oxford University Press
    Oxford University Press

    Oxford University Press is a publisher and a department of the University of Oxford in England. It is the largest university press in the world, being larger than all the American university presses combined with Cambridge University Press....
     , 21 April, 1988. ISBN 0-1985-3202-4.


See also

  • How to solve the Rubik's Cube
  • Singmaster's conjecture


External links