Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
Where to Begin...
1. Elementary, my dear Watson
2. 'And you do addition?'
3. Bell ringing and other permutations
4. A procession of permutation puzzles
5. What's commutative and purple?
6. Welcome to the machine
7. 'God's algorithm' and graphs
8. Symmetry and the Platonic solids
9. The illegal cube group
10. Words which move
11. The (legal) Rubik's Cube group
12. Squares, two-faces, and other subgroups
13. Other Rubik-like puzzle groups
14. Crossing the Rubicon
15. Some solution strategies
16. Coda: Questions and other directions
Bibliography
Index

About the Author

David Joyner is a professor of mathematics at the U.S. Naval Academy. He is coauthor of Applied Abstract Algebra, also published by Johns Hopkins, and editor of Coding Theory and Cryptography: From Enigma and Geheimschreiber to Quantum Theory.

Reviews

"Adventures in Group Theory is a tour through the algebra of several 'permutation puzzles'... If you like puzzles, this is a somewhat fun book. If you like algebra, this is a fun book. If you like puzzles and algebra, this is a really fun book." - MAA Online "Joyner has collated all the Rubik lore and integrated it with a self-contained introduction to group theory that equals or, more likely, exceeds what is available in typical dedicated elementary texts." - Choice "Joyner does convey some of the excitement and adventure in picking up knowledge of group theory by trying to understand Rubik's Cube. Enthusiastic students will learn a lot of mathematics from this book." - American Scientist"