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scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1413906
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    scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1413906

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      13 March 2000
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      mathematical Olympiad
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      elementary geometry
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      combinatorics
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      functional equations
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      theory of numbers
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      Mathematical Olympiads for pupils were intended as a tool to unveil mathematically gifted children and provide a challenge for their development. But the Olympiads started to evolve in their own rules and very soon achieved a very sophisticated level comparable to a professional sport. It is not an overstatement to say that Mathematical Olympiads are now also contests between pupils and the jury. The jury tries to find problems, which are (1) fresh-looking and original; (2) match to continuously increasing level of the pupil's preparation; (3) yet still could be counted as ``elementary'' mathematics. This task becomes even more difficult because the same people are the jury during the days of Olympiads and are the pupil's tutors during the rest of a year. As a result the nature and level of problems proposed on mathematical Olympiads are continuously changing. Something that had been considered completely impossible for pupils just ten years ago now admitted on national or International Olympiads. To be successful for a pupil (or his/her tutor) it is crucially important to be familiar with the current state of art. The book under review is written by a team of mathematicians, which worked for Mathematical Olympiads in Ukraine for many years. The book starts from a short history of International Mathematical Olympiads and records the achievements of Ukrainian pupils. I learned from it that V. G. Drinfeld won the International Mathematical Olympiads in 1970 before becoming a Field Prize winner in 1990. Moreover the very first paper of \textit{V. G. Drinfeld} [A certain cyclic inequality (in Russian), Mat. Zametki 9, 113-119 (1971; Zbl 0225.29019)] was dedicated to a generalization of an olympiad problem. Generally Ukrainian pupils did well at International Olympiads as part of the USSR team till 1991 and as an independent team since 1992. Of course the success is essentially determined by the traditionally excellent mathematical education in (ex)USSR and enthusiastic efforts of many mathematicians who work with gifted youth. The importance of Olympiads highlighted in the Foreword written by the Director of Mathematical Institute of National Academy of Sciences Prof. A. M. Samoilenko. The book accumulates an experience of such efforts during several recent years. The selection of problems from International Mathematical Olympiads is enriched by many interesting questions proposed recently on various mathematical competitions in Ukraine and many other countries. Such material could be hardly found printed elsewhere. The contents of the book shows that all main areas are covered: Chapter 1. Theory of numbers and polynomials. Chapter 2. Classic theorems of plane geometry. Chapter 3. Combinatorics. Chapter 4. Sets of numbers. Chapter 5. Functional equations. The idea behind the book is that Olympiads and preparations to them are: a vital part of mathematical culture; a laboratory and frontiers of mathematical education; closely related to contemporary developments in mathematics. All material from the book is finest mathematics. Some results (like number theory and geometry) are the golden classic, other (like combinatorics and functional equations) may be related to modern research. The authors supply enlightening, superbly presented solutions uncovering mathematical and methodological structures of ``olympiad'' problems. The book systematically presents principal theorems and fundamental methods which are oftenly used in problem-solving. There are also many exercises in the book. As a minor critique I would like to mention that the book does contain some misprints and was not typesetted in \TeX{}. Besides the obvious audience of pupils, their tutors, and specialist in mathematical education I would like to recommend this book to working mathematicians as an escape from the narrow specialization of our age. It is my strong opinion that the mathematical community could benefit if the book will be translated into English.
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