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Circle in a Box
Publisher: AMS and Mathematical Sciences Research Institute
Author: Sam Vandervelde
Excerpt from Book:

Book for school teachers, administration, and educators interested in starting a local maths circle.

Math circles provide a setting in which mathematicians work with secondary school students who are interested in mathematics. This form of outreach, which has existed for decades in Russia, Bulgaria, and other countries, is now rapidly spreading across the United States as well. The first part of this book offers helpful advice on all aspects of math circle operations, culled from conversations with over a dozen directors of successful math circles. Topics include creative means for getting the word out to students, sound principles for selecting effective speakers, guidelines for securing financial support, and tips for designing an exciting math circle session. The purpose of this discussion is to enable math circle coordinators to establish a thriving group in which students can experience the delight of mathematical investigation. The second part of the book outlines ten independent math circle sessions, covering a variety of topics and difficulty levels. Each chapter contains detailed presentation notes along with a useful collection of problems and solutions. This book will be an indispensable resource for any individual involved with a math circle or anyone who would like to see one begin in his or her community.

Sam Vandervelde teaches at St. Lawrence University. He launched the Stanford Math Circle and also writes and coordinates the Mandelbrot Competition, a math contest for high schools.

In the interest of fostering a greater awareness and appreciation of mathematics and its connections to other disciplines and everyday life, MSRI and the AMS are publishing books in the Mathematical Circles Library series as a service to young people, their parents and teachers, and the mathematics profession.

Titles in this series are co-published with the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI).

Readership

Secondary school teachers and administrators, college professors, research mathematicians, and parents interested in organizing math circles for middle school or high school students.


Number Theory: Structures, Examples, and Problems
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media, 2009
Author: Titu Andreescu, Dorin Andrica
Book Description:

Number theory, an ongoing rich area of mathematical exploration, is noted for its theoretical depth, with connections and applications to other fields from representation theory, to physics, cryptography, and more. While the forefront of number theory is replete with sophisticated and famous open problems, at its foundation are basic, elementary ideas that can stimulate and challenge beginning students. This lively introductory text focuses on a problem-solving approach to the subject.

Key features of Number Theory: Structures, Examples, and Problems:

* A rigorous exposition starts with the natural numbers and the basics.

* Important concepts are presented with an example, which may also emphasize an application. The exposition moves systematically and intuitively to uncover deeper properties.

* Topics include divisibility, unique factorization, modular arithmetic and the Chinese Remainder Theorem, Diophantine equations, quadratic residues, binomial coefficients, Fermat and Mersenne primes and other special numbers, and special sequences. Sections on mathematical induction and the pigeonhole principle, as well as a discussion of other number systems are covered.

* Unique exercises reinforce and motivate the reader, with selected solutions to some of the problems.

* Glossary, bibliography, and comprehensive index round out the text.

Written by distinguished research mathematicians and renowned teachers, this text is a clear, accessible introduction to the subject and a source of fascinating problems and puzzles, from advanced high school students to undergraduates, their instructors, and general readers at all levels.


The Mathematical Mechanic
Publisher: Priceton University Press
Author: Mark Levi
Book Description:

 

ISBN: 9780691242057

Link to publisher's page

 

Everybody knows that mathematics is indispensable to physics—imagine where we’d be today if Einstein and Newton didn’t have the math to back up their ideas. But how many people realize that physics can be used to produce many astonishing and strikingly elegant solutions in mathematics? Mark Levi shows how in this delightful book, treating readers to a host of entertaining problems and mind-bending puzzlers that will amuse and inspire their inner physicist. Levi turns math and physics upside down, revealing how physics can simplify proofs and lead to quicker solutions and new theorems, and how physical solutions can illustrate why results are true in ways lengthy mathematical calculations never can. Did you know it’s possible to derive the Pythagorean theorem by spinning a fish tank filled with water? Or that soap film holds the key to determining the cheapest container for a given volume? Or that the line of best fit for a data set can be found using a mechanical contraption made from a rod and springs? Levi demonstrates how to use physical intuition to solve these and other fascinating math problems. More than half the problems can be tackled by anyone with precalculus and basic geometry, while the more challenging problems require some calculus. This one-of-a-kind book explains physics and math concepts where needed, and includes an informative appendix of physical principles. The Mathematical Mechanic will appeal to anyone interested in the little-known connections between mathematics and physics and how both endeavors relate to the world around us.


Mathematical Circles (Russian Experience)
Publisher: American Mathematical Society (AMS)
Author: Dmitri Fomin, Sergey Genkin, Ilia V. Itenberg
Book Description:

This is a sample of rich Russian mathematical culture written by professional mathematicians with great experience in working with high school students … Problems are on very simple levels, but building to more complex and advanced work … [contains] solutions to almost all problems; methodological notes for the teacher … developed for a peculiarly Russian institution (the mathematical circle), but easily adapted to American teachers' needs, both inside and outside the classroom.


A Decade of the Berkeley Math Circle: The American Experience, Volume I
Publisher: AMS and the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute
Editor: Zvezdelina Stankova, Tom Rike
Book Description:

Many mathematicians have been drawn to mathematics through their experience with math circles: extracurricular programs exposing teenage students to advanced mathematical topics and a myriad of problem solving techniques and inspiring in them a lifelong love for mathematics. Founded in 1998, the Berkeley Math Circle (BMC) is a pioneering model of a U.S. math circle, aspiring to prepare our best young minds for their future roles as mathematics leaders. Over the last decade, 50 instructors—from university professors to high school teachers to business tycoons—have shared their passion for mathematics by delivering more than 320 BMC sessions full of mathematical challenges and wonders.

Based on a dozen of these sessions, this book encompasses a wide variety of enticing mathematical topics: from inversion in the plane to circle geometry; from combinatorics to Rubik's cube and abstract algebra; from number theory to mass point theory; from complex numbers to game theory via invariants and monovariants. The treatments of these subjects encompass every significant method of proof and emphasize ways of thinking and reasoning via 100 problem solving techniques. Also featured are 300 problems, ranging from beginner to intermediate level, with occasional peaks of advanced problems and even some open questions.

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