Ian Scheffler, journalist and aspiring "speedcuber," attempts to break into the international phenomenon of speed solving the Rubik's Cube—described as chess played at the speed of ping pong—while exploring the Cube's rise to iconic status around the globe and the lessons that can be learned through solving it.
When Hungarian professor Ernő Rubik invented the Rubik's Cube (or, rather, his Cube) in the 1970s, out of wooden blocks, rubber bands, and paperclips, he didn't even know if it could be solved, let alone that it would become the world's most popular puzzle. Since its creation, the Cube has become many things to many people: one of the bestselling children's toys, a symbol of intellectual prowess, a frustrating puzzle with 43.2 quintillion possible permutations, and now a worldwide sporting endeavor whose viral clips on YouTube have renewed interest in the classic brainteaser.

In Cracking the Cube, Ian Scheffler reveals that cubing...