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| Bidder | Amount | Date |
|---|---|---|
| J****9 108 | USD 50.00 | 04/01/2023 12:31:20 |
| P****i 119 | USD 48.00 | 04/01/2023 12:31:20 |
| J****9 108 | USD 38.00 | 03/31/2023 16:00:57 |
| C****r 149 | USD 36.00 | 03/31/2023 16:00:57 |
| C****r 149 | USD 22.00 | 03/31/2023 14:32:37 |
| J****9 108 | USD 20.00 | 03/26/2023 13:38:36 |
In 1961, Thomas O'Beirne described in his New Scientist column (224, 560-1) a fantastic cube dissection. Six irregular pieces formed a cube and five other different rectangular cuboids. Surprisingly, it went largely unnoticed, probably because of difficulties in making the set. O'Beirne did not include it in his 1965 book Puzzles and Paradoxes and it remains little known and appreciated.I got interested in this puzzle via my earlier encounter with its much simpler but very pleasing pre-cursor which first appeared in the book Matematiceskaja Smekalka (Mathematical Know-how) by B. A. Kordemskij published in Moscow in 1954. The readers were challenged to cut an 8x8x27 wooden beam into four pieces which could then be assembled to form a cube. The solution consisted of pieces which could be morphed by simple one-step shifts into a cube and two other rectangular cuboids. I designed a box with three receptacles and some additional tasks to package this as a mechanical puzzle. It was produced commercially by RBA as the Morph Puzzle in 2006.
Morph II is the result of an attempt to do something similar with O'Beirne’s dissection so it is translated from a geometrical curiosity into a mechanical puzzle, and reaches people who will appreciate its elegance. I designed this presentation, Peter Knoppers helped with the construction of the box and laser-cut it and the New Pelikan workshop made the puzzle pieces. The non-morphing cube solution was pointed out to me by David Singmaster.