Short Wave

The Mathematical Marvel Of The Rubik's Cube


Listen Later

The Rubik's Cube was created 50 years ago by Hungarian inventor Ernő Rubik. Since then, over 500 million of them have been sold. We dive into this global phenomenon that's captured the imagination of countless people around the world and inspired all kinds of competitions — even solving with your feet! But no matter the cube, the process of solving one involves math — specifically, algorithms. Roman Chavez loved Rubik's Cubes so much, he founded the Jr. Oakland Cubers in high school. Now a mathematics student at Cornell University, Roman talks to host Emily Kwong about how to solve the cube and what life lessons he's learned from the cube.

Interested in more math episodes? Email us at [email protected].

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Short WaveBy NPR

  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7

4.7

6,199 ratings


More shows like Short Wave

View all
TED Radio Hour by NPR

TED Radio Hour

22,038 Listeners

Radiolab by WNYC Studios

Radiolab

43,986 Listeners

Freakonomics Radio by Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

Freakonomics Radio

32,139 Listeners

Planet Money by NPR

Planet Money

30,648 Listeners

Hidden Brain by Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam

Hidden Brain

43,704 Listeners

Science Vs by Spotify Studios

Science Vs

12,200 Listeners

Science Friday by Science Friday and WNYC Studios

Science Friday

6,341 Listeners

Up First from NPR by NPR

Up First from NPR

56,441 Listeners

The Indicator from Planet Money by NPR

The Indicator from Planet Money

9,509 Listeners

Throughline by NPR

Throughline

16,258 Listeners

Life Kit: Health by NPR

Life Kit: Health

413 Listeners

Life Kit by NPR

Life Kit

4,379 Listeners

Consider This from NPR by NPR

Consider This from NPR

6,371 Listeners

Unexplainable by Vox

Unexplainable

2,298 Listeners

The Economics of Everyday Things by Freakonomics Network & Zachary Crockett

The Economics of Everyday Things

1,654 Listeners