Mathematical Olympiads 1999-2000: Problems and Solutions from Around the World

Contained here are solutions to challenging problems from algebra, geometry, combinatorics and number theory featured in the earlier book, together with selected questions (without solutions) from... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0883858053
• ISBN13: 9780883858059
• Release Date: May 2002
• Publisher: Mathematical Association of America (MAA)
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Great for anyone interested on this kind of problem solving

This is a great book for problem solving, whether you are a participant, or a trainer (read tutor, but for former participants, we prefer trainer). Anyway, it is a great collection of problems and solutions. OK! I am about twelve years overdue for math contests, but I enjoyed them way too much, and now, my little brothers are getting to the right age, so, I have bought some literature. This book is part of it, and an important part in that regard. I just would love it to be a bit cheaper. I mean, it doesn't hurt, for me, a college professor, to spend a Benjamin in three books for math olympiads, but when I was sixteen and participating on contests, I wouldn't have been able to afford it.

Challenging Stuff

I'm rewriting almost ad-literam this review since previously it was inadvertedly attached (and the fault is mine) to another book by the same team of editors (USA and Int. Math. Olympiads, 2001). So, let's get started again.This is another collection of mathematical olympiad grade problems published in the MAA problem book series. The problems are collected from various contests: national (46 of the 1999-2000 contests in some of the most advanced countries are presented) and regional (13 such contests are covered).The 1999 contest problems, national and regional, are presented with solutions and sometimes with multiple solutions or with comments. The 2000 contest problems are listed without answers, so that the serious and determined readers could try their hand at their solutions.I consider this kind of arrangement a very good idea, for problem solvers are in constant need of a challenge. Having failed to solve a problem, having the solution at hand and resisting the temptation to look at the solution is, for some mere mortals, as hard as being a chef on a diet in a French restaurant.For this very reason I don't consider a very good idea having the solutions immediately after aproblem's statement. But this is a personal preference and there are some practical reasons for doing so from the editorial point of view, so I don't necessarily consider this aspect a weak point of the book.The problems themselves are beautiful. They run the gammut from meaningful gems of mathematics having relatively easy solutions, that could even find applications elswhere, to virtuoso type problems, saying little mathematically, but being exceedingly hard to solve. A problem solver needs both these types of problems in order to prepare for competitions and to start appreciating the maths from an aesthetic point of view.The classic synthetic geometry, elementary number theory and combinatorial theory problems are there. But a number of "unorthodox" interesting problems asking for an algorithm in order to reach a solution are scattered through the collection and I consider these the most difficult ones to solve.This is a technical book, so to speak, aimed to train the reader for the real and hard competition. It could be seen as an analogue of a set of weights the athlete uses in his/her day by day training. Competitors and their coaches will undoubtedly find it a welcome addition to the existing older material.The editors did a good job and it is to be expected that they will continue to offer this service to the young mathematical community.