Rubik's Cube and Mark's Baking Adventures

When I was a kid, the Rubik's Cube had just come out.  It mesmerized and fascinated millions of people.  I had seen various commercials for it on TV.  The commercials showed people who were suppose to be doing something else twisting the cube around trying to solve it (such as a baseball player in the dugout trying to solve it rather than play baseball).  I saw these commercials, I saw them trying to solve it, I thought it would be easy to solve.  I thought once you solved one or maybe two sides, then everything else would fall into place and be really easy to solve from there.  My dad took me to the store and we bought a Rubik's Cube.  I solved one side.  Then I solved two sides.  Then I had no clue as to how to solve the rest of it.  I bought a book on how to solve it.  It was a very confusing book.  

Then I got the book The Simple Solution to the Rubik's Cube by James G. Nourse.  James G. Nourse at the time was a chemical engineer at Stanford University.  I saw that he suggested solving the cube in layers - the top layer, the middle layer, and then the bottom layer.  I knew how to solve the top layer as that was solving one side of the puzzle.  Then I was able to solve the middle layer using some the techniques I had learned myself to solve two sides.  So, once I had the top layer and middle layer solved, I had no clue again as to how to solve the bottom layer.  In The Simple Solution to the Rubik's Cube, solving the bottom layer was explained in chapters 4 and 5 of the book.  Chapter 4 explains how to solve the bottom corners.  Then chapter 5 explains how to solve the bottom layer edges.  I worked my way through his solutions.  It was very simple to understand.  Very easy to follow.  Explained very well.  The solution was also easy to remember.  I solved the cube in the 6th grade.  It took me a little over a year to solve from when I first got it. 

I went on to solve Rubik's Revenge (4x4x4) and The Professor's Cube (5x5x5).  I still think these are fun to solve and make patterns with. 

One of the most important lessons I learned though from this is the importance of keeping explanations simple.  No matter how complicated or daunting the task, explanations and solutions should be kept simple.  The Rubik's Cube has 43 quintillion different combinations.   The number of combinations for cooking is infinite.  I approach my blog and the recipes I post here in such a way so that the individual steps are simple and easy to follow - like The Simple Solution to the Rubik's Cube.

It is June 2014.  The Rubik's Cube is celebrating its 40th birthday.  There is a special exhibit at the Liberty Science Center in NJ right across from NYC.  I don't know if I will get a chance to see it or not, it would be nice though. 

So, I'd thought I'd share this story since this Rubik's Cube and this particular solution made such an impression on me.

The following solution for the Rubik's Cube works, and it is also still quite simple, and it appears easy to learn and remember.  I will always love The Simple Solution to the Rubik's Cube method though.  If you get a chance, check it out from a library.

These solutions are from the official Rubik's Cube website:

http://rubiks.com/uploads/general_content/Rubiks_cube_3x3_solution-en.pdf

Here is their solution to the Rubik's Revenge:

http://rubiks.com/solving-guide/4x4

(then click on download solving guide - skip the video)

Enjoy!!