Re: 3x3 twisty puzzle talk

On 20/10/2024 06:49, Daniel wrote:

Mike Terry <news.dead.person.stones@darjeeling.plus.com> writes:
 

On 17/10/2024 09:30, Daniel wrote:

Mike Terry <news.dead.person.stones@darjeeling.plus.com> writes:
>

On 15/10/2024 02:27, Daniel wrote:

Mike Terry <news.dead.person.stones@darjeeling.plus.com> writes:
>

>
I was introduced to the cube in my (maths) student days by Prof. John
Conway, seeing him playing with one during a college evening meal with
us to which he had been invited.  Well now you know my "link to fame"!
lol.  (..and I hear you asking "John who?" which is ok, but he was
known by many outside mathematician circles, due e.g. to his work on
"Game of Life" and "Surreal numbers".  So it's possibly you've heard
of him.)  Conway of course loved the cube puzzle which was right up
his street, what with the group theory angle and all.  It wouldn't
surprise me at all to learn he had published something on the maths of
the cube.

 I'm not familiar with him, but that doesn't mean much. I did study math
in college, and as I said it's been twenty years. Barely know calculus
anymore except for the most basic derivations and integrations.
 I have friends on IRC who are in academic circles who I speak to on a
normal basis (in a cooking channel of all places) and asked for
suggestions on books regarding group theory aimed toward people with
math education and not for the layman nor the phd.
 He suggested a textbook, and I thought "duh." So i'm looking for a
fairly priced older edition since newer editions just change the
homework problems around and change their page numbers so students are
forced to pay exorbidant prices for new editions.
 I am fascinated by math subjects, which is why I studied it in college.
 

Another option for you might be the excellent PDF papers by K. Conrad on algebra topics.
   <https://kconrad.math.uconn.edu/blurbs/>
There are a lot of group theory topics, and they broadly start at the beginning and get more advanced as you go down the page.  I don't know what they would be like for someone trying to learn group theory completely from scratch, but I found them as well written as any books I have read! Perhaps one problem might be not enough exercises?...  I don't know, but hey, they're there and they're free, so no harm taking a look.  :)
(If you wanted to ask specific questions about the papers, they would be off topic for this group, but on topic I expect for say sci.math...)
Mike.