The Three-Year MATHCOUNTS Marathon - Softcover

Karen Ge

9780985506896: The Three-Year MATHCOUNTS Marathon

Softcover

ISBN 10: 098550689X ISBN 13: 9780985506896

Publisher: Aquahouse Publishing

Written by a MATHCOUNTS state champion, this book contains more than 400 carefully selected problems ranging from MathCounts to the International Math Olympiad, each with a detailed solution. It is intended for advanced MathCounts mathletes, coaches, and parents. Please note that although this book includes many problems from high school math competitions, the purpose of the book is not to prepare for those contests. Rather, these problems are chosen to hone MathCounts problem solving skills because today's high school math problems will appear in tomorrow's MathCounts competitions.

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From the Back Cover:

Review of The Three-Year MATHCOUNTS Marathon

The author of this wonderful study guide for MathCounts has just completed a very successful career as a middle school mathlete (the three-year journey in the title). As the introduction makes clear, success at the national level requires hard work and a plan of attack. The author provides a plan of attack in the form of 15 chapters including mathematical principles, functional equations, angle chasing, and mass points, just to list a few. After that, it is up to the mathlete to follow through! The exposition is pitched at a fairly high level making this book appropriate for intermediate to advanced mathletes.

Since problem-solving is what MathCounts is all about, every chapter includes several important ideas. Each idea is introduced through one or more carefully chosen problems for which the author offers clear and informative solutions. Every chapter concludes with a really nice set of problems drawn from a wide range of contests, including a few from the International Mathematical Olympiad. In most cases the source of the problem is supplied, which gives a hint as to how hard it might be. The book provides answers and then solutions to all the problems. The author makes it clear that even working through all of the problems in MathCounts is not sufficient to ensure success. Nevertheless, working your way through this book would be a significant step towards success at the state and national level.

What makes this book so special is the combination of really good problems and the quality of the solutions supplied. The mathematical syntax is correct and the written explanations are well done. Each problem provides a new insight into the topic at hand and the solutions help the reader to see how the author thought through each problem. I highly recommend this book to any intermediate to advanced mathlete. It should also be on the desk of MathCounts coaches and in the library of schools that participate in MathCounts and the AMC contests. This is a wonderful book. I had lots of fun trying the problems!

Review:

"You have done an incredible job in creating a resource others will find valuable, and, more importantly, be inspired by."
Albert NiMATHCOUNTS 2002 National Champion

"It's wonderful to see students sharing their paths to success so that others may follow! In The Three-Year MATHCOUNTS Marathon, Karen Ge shares her experience through carefully chosen problems, each of which offers more than stacks of routine exercises."
Richard RusczykFounder and CEOArt of Problem Solving

"Karen Ge's delightful problem book is a must read for high flying middle schoolers. Anyone who wants to be a top flight mathematical problem solver can learn from her fine choice of problems and her conversational style of writing. The selection of topics is right on target and the consistent use of symbols makes the reading easy."
Harold ReiterProfessor of MathematicsUniversity of North Carolina at Charlotte

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