Equations and Inequalities: Elementary Problems and Theorems in Algebra and Number Theory (CMS Books in Mathematics)

This book is intended as a text for a problem-solving course at the first­ or second-year university level, as a text for enrichment classes for talented high-school students, or for mathematics competition training. It can also be used as a source of supplementary material for any course dealing with algebraic equations or inequalities, or to supplement a standard elementary number theory course. There are already many excellent books on the market that can be used for a problem-solving course. However, some are merely collections of prob­ lems from a variety of fields and lack cohesion. Others present problems according to topic, but provide little or no theoretical background. Most problem books have a limited number of rather challenging problems. While these problems tend to be quite beautiful, they can appear forbidding and discouraging to a beginning student, even with well-motivated and carefully written solutions. As a consequence, students may decide that problem solving is only for the few high performers in their class, and abandon this important part of their mathematical, and indeed overall, education.

From the reviews:

MATHEMATICAL INTELLIGENCER

"I have nothing but praise for this book, and I can't imagine a mathamtician who wouldn't want to own it."

MAA ONLINE

"This book contains over 300 examples and then over 700 exercises for the reader. The authors have even included a fourth chapter with hints and answers to the exercises. So, even if the solution isn't given in the back, at least the reader will have some hint about which direction to start looking. The book provides a nice introduction into many of the problems-solvers' 'tricks of the trade.' There is a lot presented here, so the reader (especially an undergraduate) may want to take the following approach: read just a few pages at a time, work out some of the exercises, then take some time to digest the material before going on."