Colorado Mathematical Olympiad

This updated printing of the first edition of Colorado Mathematical Olympiad: the First Twenty Years and Further Explorations gives the interesting history of the competition as well as an outline of all the problems and solutions that have been created for the contest over the years. Many of the essay problems were inspired by Russian mathematical folklore and written to suit the young audience; for example, the 1989 Sugar problem was written in a pleasant Lewis Carroll-like story. Some other entertaining problems involve olde Victorian map colourings, King Authur and the knights of the round table, rooks in space, Santa Claus and his elves painting planes, football for 23, and even the Colorado Springs subway system.

Now in its third decade, the Colorado Mathematical Olympiad (CMO), founded by the author, has become an annual state-wide competition, hosting many hundreds of middle and high school contestants each year. This book presents a year-by-year history of the CMO from 2004–2013 with all the problems from the competitions and their solutions. Additionally, the book includes 10 further explorations, bridges from solved Olympiad problems to ‘real’ mathematics, bringing young readers to the forefront of various fields of mathematics. This book contains more than just problems, solutions, and event statistics — it tells a compelling story involving the lives of those who have been part of the Olympiad, their reminiscences of the past and successes of the present. I am almost speechless facing the ingenuity and inventiveness demonstrated in the problems proposed in the third decade of these Olympics. However, equally impressive is the drive and persistence of the originator and living soul of them. It is hard for me to imagine the enthusiasm and commitment needed to work singlehandedly on such an endeavor over several decades. —Branko Grünbaum, University of Washingtonp/ppiAfter decades of hunting for Olympiad problems, and struggling to create Olympiad problems, he has become an extraordinary connoisseur and creator of Olympiad problems. The Olympiad problems were very good, from the beginning, but in the third decade the problems have become extraordinarily good. Every brace of 5 problems is a work of art. The harder individual problems range in quality from brilliant to work-of-genius... The same goes for the “Further Explorations” part of the book. Great mathematics and mathematical questions are immersed in a sauce of fascinating anecdote and reminiscence. If you could have only one book to enjoy while stranded on a desert island, this would be a good choice. /ii/i/psup/supp/ppiLike Gauss, Alexander Soifer would not hesitate to inject Eureka! at the right moment. Like van der Waerden, he can transform a dispassionate exercise in logic into a compelling account of sudden insights and ultimate triumph./ii/i/pp— Cecil Rousseau Chair, USA Mathematical Olympiad Committee/ppiA delightful feature of the book is that in the second part more related problems are discussed. Some of them are still unsolved./ii/i/pp—Paul Erdős/ppiThe book is a gold mine of brilliant reasoning with special emphasis on the power and beauty of coloring proofs. Strongly recommended to both serious and recreational mathematicians on all levels of expertise./i/p —Martin Gardner

This book gathers the best presentations from the Topic Study Group 30: Mathematics Competitions at ICME-13 in Hamburg, and some from related groups, focusing on the field of working with gifted students. Each of the chapters includes not only original ideas, but also original mathematical problems and their solutions. The book is a valuable resource for researchers in mathematics education, secondary and college mathematics teachers around the globe as well as their gifted students.

Olympiad problems help able school students flex their mathematical muscles. Good Olympiad problems are unpredictable: this makes them worthwhile but it also makes them seem hard and even unapproachable. The Mathematical Olympiad Handbook contains some of the problems and solutions from the British Mathematical Olympiads from 1965 to 1996 in a form designed to help bright students overcome this barrier.

Various elementary techniques for solving problems in algebra, geometry, and combinatorics are explored in this second edition of Mathematics as Problem Solving. Each new chapter builds on the previous one, allowing the reader to uncover new methods for using logic to solve problems. Topics are presented in self-contained chapters, with classical solutions as well as Soifer's own discoveries. With roughly 200 different problems, the reader is challenged to approach problems from different angles. Mathematics as Problem Solving is aimed at students from high school through undergraduate levels and beyond, educators, and the general reader interested in the methods of mathematical problem solving.

This book explores the theory’s history, recent developments, and some promising future directions through invited surveys written by prominent researchers in the field. The first three surveys provide historical background on the subject; the last three address Euclidean Ramsey theory and related coloring problems. In addition, open problems posed throughout the volume and in the concluding open problem chapter will appeal to graduate students and mathematicians alike.

This book provides an exciting history of the discovery of Ramsey Theory, and contains new research along with rare photographs of the mathematicians who developed this theory, including Paul Erdös, B.L. van der Waerden, and Henry Baudet.