You are on page 1of 1

Good aspects of this book have been said by most of the other reviewers.

The mai
n problem with such books is that for slightly experienced problem solvers, this
book probably does not provide a whole lot of information as to what needs to b
e done to get better. For instance, for a kid who is in 10th grade struggling wi
th math, this is a very good book. For a kid who is in his 11th grade trying for
math Olympiad or for people looking at Putnam, this book won't provide much hel
p.
Most people simply say that "practice makes perfect". When it comes to contest l
evel problems, it is not as simple as that. There are experienced trainers like
Professor Titu Andreescu who spend a lot of time training kids to get better. Th
ere is lot more to it than simply trying out tough problems.
The most common situation occurs when you encounter extremely tough questions li
ke the Olympiad ones. Most people simply sit and stare at the problem and don't
go beyond that. Even the kids who are extremely fast with 10th grade math misera
bly fail. Why?
The ONE book which explains this is titled "Mathematical Problem Solving" writte
n by Professor Alan Schoenfeld. It is simply amazing. A must buy. In case you ha
ve ever wondered why, in spite of being lightning fast in solving textbook exerc
ises in the 10th and 11th grade, you fail in being able to solve even a single p
roblem from the IMO, you have to read this book. I am surprised to see Polya's b
ook getting mentioned so very often bu nobody ever mentions Schoenfeld's book. I
t is a must read book for ANY math enthusiast and the math majors.
After reading this book, you will possibly get a picture as to what is involved
in solving higher level math problems especially the psychology of it. You need
to know that as psychology is one of the greatest hurdles to over when it comes
to solving contest problems. Then you move on to "Thinking Mathematically" writt
en by J. Mason et al. It has problems which are only few times too hard but most
of the times, have just enough "toughness" for the author to make the point ONL
Y IF THE STUDENT TRIES THEM OUT.
The next level would be Paul Zeitz's The Art and Craft of Problem Solving. This
book also explains the mindset needed for solving problems of the Olympiad kind.
At this point, you will probably realize what ExACTLY it means when others say
that "problem solving is all about practice". All the while you would be thinkin
g "practice what? I simply cannot make the first move successfully and how can I
practice when I can't even solve one problem even when I tried for like a month
". It is problem solving and not research in math that you are trying to do. You
will probably get a better picture after going through the above three books.
Finally, you can move on to Arthur Engel's Problem Solving Strategies and Titu A
ndreescu's Mathematical Olympiad Challenges if you managed to get to this point.
There is also problem solving through problems by Loren Larson. These are helpf
ul only if you could solve Paul Zeitz's book successfully.
To conclude, if you are looking for guidance at the level of math Olympiad, look
for other books. This book won't be of much assistance. On the other hand, if y
ou are simply trying to get better at grade school math, this book will be very
useful.

You might also like