The mean-value property (Q897012)

This is an elementary article which has its origins in a lecture given to high-school students. It begins with a discussion of the discrete mean value property for functions defined on an integer lattice, and connections with random walks and the discrete Dirichlet problem. It then moves on to discuss the (circular) mean value property for continuous functions on planar Euclidean domains, and connections with the (continuous) Dirichlet problem, soap films and Brownian motion.