The Colorado Mathematical Olympiad And Further Explorations

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.

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

Engaging Young Students in Mathematics through Competitions presents a wide range of topics relating to mathematics competitions and their meaning in the world of mathematical research, teaching and entertainment. Following the earlier two volumes, contributors explore a wide variety of fascinating problems of the type often presented at mathematics competitions. In this new third volume, many chapters are directly related to the challenges involved in organizing competitions under Covid-19, including many positive aspects resulting from the transition to online formats. There are also sections devoted to background information on connections between the mathematics of competitions and their organization, as well as the competitions' interplay with research, teaching and more.The various chapters are written by an international group of authors involved in problem development, many of whom were participants of the 9th Congress of the World Federation of National Mathematics Competitions in Bulgaria in 2022. Together, they provide a deep sense of the issues involved in creating such problems for competition mathematics and recreational mathematics.

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.

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.