Definition:Perfect Magic Cube/Historical Note
Historical Note on Perfect Magic Cube
The first perfect magic cube to be found appears to be the order $7$ one as reported by Andrew Hollingworth Frost in The Quarterly Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics in $1866$.
The next one was the order $8$ one discovered by Gustavus Frankenstein, as reported in The Cincinnati Commercial in $1875$.
David Wells reports in his Curious and Interesting Numbers, 2nd ed. of $1997$ that the first to be published was in $1905$, but it is clear that more recent research supersedes his information.
This appears to be a misprint for the one of order $9$ discovered by Charles Planck, and published by him in his The Theory of Path Nasiks of $1905$.
He also reports, accurately for the time, that it was not known whether or not there exist perfect magic cubes whose order is $5$ or $6$.
However, since $1997$ an example of each has been found.
Sources
- 1866: A.H. Frost: Invention of Magic Cubes, and Construction of Magic Squares Possessing Additional Properties (The Quarterly Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics Vol. 7: pp. 92 – 102)
- 1986: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers ... (previous) ... (next): $8$
- 1997: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): $8$