Six Piece Burr Puzzle
Here is a puzzle made by my grandfather, Dr. Leslie E Card,
something over fifty years ago. He was a wonderful craftsman
with his woodworking tools. He also was an amateur recreational
mathematician, corresponding with (and being referenced by)
Martin Gardner (Scientific American) and other columnists of the
day (J. Rec Math, et al). Professionally, he wrote a number of
the definitive texts on the diseases of poultry. He was a
professor at UIUC (before it was called that).
This
particular puzzle looks superficially like a simple plastic
puzzle available over the counter today, but it is much more
complex internally. I recently received this wooden puzzle from
the family. It had been taken apart, and my relative (who had
tried to solve it) felt that it may not have been the right set
of pieces. But it was solvable. And here are the steps.
A web search on the phrase "six piece burr"
will find lots more info on this category of puzzle.
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