In a discussion of the Flexicube on the the Origami List 
in the beginning of September 2000 
Dave Mitchell asked whether anyone knew where the Idea 
of it came from. 
So who better to ask than Philip Noble himself 
where he got the idea. 
He very kindly answered my e-mail like this: 
 

Dear Thoki, 
my wife reminds me that the cube comes from a time  
in 1971 when I was in hospital for several days on a starvation diet ! 
Maybe that is where creativity comes from, lack of food or other things 
to distract us. I have found the idea of 8 cubes with hinges 
(not made with origami but plastic and tape) in the same way 
in several other places since, but do not think that I had seen it 
before 1972.  
( Though who knows it is so easy to see and forget 
or to see and sub-consciously recall). 
So there I was in hospital thinking and folding and the idea formed 
of making one cube from a strip....easy... 
Then what to do with the end? Tucking it in made the cube a little fat.... 
so try another cube along side and see what happens.... 
It soon became obvious that something interesting was going on here. 
Finally the joy of tucking in the end of the eighths cube.  
I still make the cubes by trial and error and find it very hard 
to teach others ..... an extra fold here and there does not bother me. 
Following on I experimented with other shapes and while I 
never made anything quite so pleasing as the cube ... 
other solid figures were interesting to make and flex 
along the same lines. 
In Japan in 1982 Professor Noguchi showed me two tetrahedra
which flex together in an amazing way and given time I might 
get around to trying to make this in Origami.... 
It would be a big job. 
Basically: Two tetra hedra are made and covered with tape 
in the same manner as the magic wallet 
(You know where the note is held between crossed taped 
then opened on the back to show the note lying between 
two horizontal tapes....??) 
Well, using this principle the two tetra hedra are made to flex 
or roll round each other giving an amazing change from 
one colour to another... 
Please use any of the above you want but 
rewrite it in English !!!!  And correct spelling mistakes.... 
Off to do a teaching day in Glasgow and my wife and I 
set off ROUND THE WORLD for 3 months, on 1st November . 
Keep safe and keep in touch. 
 
With Love in Jesus' name, 
 
Philip D. Noble 
Home page: 
http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~philipdnoble/homepage.html 
Church home page: http://www.stninians.org.uk 

The Drawings here are copies from Acrobat Reader rendition  of the original 
Diagram by Philip Nobles from 1972.  the copies are not very good, 
They were sent to me by Larry Hart of England, it is not Larry's fault, but mine,
had to change the ftp file in gif, by printing and scanning. Don't know any aother way
 
.