Brossura

ISBN 10: 0198501056 ISBN 13: 9780198501053

Casa editrice: Oxford University Press, 1997

Begun in Hungary in the nineteenth century, Mathematical Olympiads are now held for high school students throughout the world. They feature problems which, though they require only high school mathematics, seem very difficult because they are unpredictable and have no obvious starting point. This book introduces readers to these delightful and challenging problems and aims to convince them that Olympiads are not just for a select minority. The book contains problems from the British Mathematical Olympiad (BMO) competitions between 1965 and 1996. It includes hints and solutions for each problem from 1975 on, a review of the basic mathematical skills needed, and a list of recommended reading, making it an ideal source for enriching one's experience in mathematics.

About the Author:

School of Mathematics, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT Tel: 0121 414 6580 Fax: 0121 414 3389 Email: a.d.gardiner@bham.ac.uk

Review:

"I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in this sort of problem solving. It would be a particularly valuable resource for those who participate in mathematics competitions at the high school or college level."--Mathematics Association of America Online

"Gardiner uses the problems from the first 32 British Mathematical Olympiads as a vehicle for encouraging mathematical problem-solving skills. The problems only require basic mathematical knowledge at the high-school level, but the fact that several problems were to be solved in a three-hour period adds a requirement for quick ingenuity to the problem-solving approaches." --Choice

"This valuable reference for mathematics teachers contains problems from the first thirty-two years of the British Mathematical Olympiad, 1965-1996. Although they do not depend on any particular prerequisite skills, the problems are intended for high school students. The book is clearly arranged, with a section on refresher mathematics, a section containing the problems, and a section on hints and solutions. The hints are distinguished from the solutions, so that the reader can read only the hint and continue solving the problem. The author recommends these challenging problems as practice for students who are preparing for competitions. Teachers could also use these problems in middle and high school courses to add rigor to the mathematics curriculum. The book contains a bibliography of other problem-solving books and a listing of the British team members who participated in the International Mathematical Olympiad."--The Mathematics Teacher

"Introduces challenging problems from British mathematical competitions for secondary school students. Part I overviews mathematics needed, covering numbers, algebra, proofs, elementary number theory, geometry, and trigonometric formulae. Part II presents about 10 problems for each of the 32 years of the competition, and Part III offers hints and worked solutions for problems given in the years 1975 through 1996. For motivated and talented high school students, especially those preparing for competitions."--SciTech Book News