Arthur Benjamin’s Formula for Changing Math

A good friend of the Metroplex Math Circle, Dr. Arthur Benjamin, is a popular speaker at the world famous TED conference.  Recently, he offered his own idea for fundamentally changing math education in our country.  Like Richard Rusczyk, he sees the singular focus on Calculus as insufficient and distracting from a full math education.

Harvard’s Math 152

I’ve enjoyed reading the Math 152 Weblog associated with the Discrete Mathematics course of the same name at Harvard.  Many of the posts should be of interest to Metroplex Math Circle attendees, but two recent posts struck me as being very similar to topics from our Fall 2008 lectures.

Math 152 helps you get jobs…

In this post a student talks about an interview he had with a quantitative trading firm which asked him to do a discrete path problem which was very similar to those Richard Rusczyk shared with us in his Math and Finance lecture.

Reading Project:  Groups, Factoring and Cryptography

This post built upon ideas that were introduced to Math Circle participants by both Dr. Bennette Harris and Alicia Prieto Lagarica in their lectures on cryptography.  It was particularly interesting that this Harvard student was able to apply his understanding of discrete math to the practical applications of RSA encryption just as Dr. Harris taught.

September 20th Photos

Following are some pictures of the first MMC meeting of the 2008-2009 season.

As you can see we have an excellent facility thanks to the generosity of UT Dallas. What is harder to see is that we filled every seat in a room with capacity >100.

Richard Rusczyk Recap

The first Math Circle of the 2008-2009 season succeeded on multiple levels. In its third year, Metroplex Math Circle finally exceeded the capacity of its current (large) lecture hall with over 100 students, teachers and parents in attendance. We were pleased to see many friends return, but even more new faces who were discovering Math Circles for the first time.

Comparative Advantage

Richard Rusczyk’s talks also exceeded all expectations. His first lecture was on the concept of comparative advantage and the benefits of free trade which many adults fail to grasp. Like many lessons in Math Circle, Mr. Rusczyk allowed the students to discover the meaning of the concept by playing out a game between two imagined countries. “Games” and the importance of “play” would be stressed throughout the day.

Option Pricing

The second segment introduced the audience to the principles of market prices and call options. With the current turmoil on Wall Street, parents were just as interested in this topic as the students. Mr. Rusczyk presented the students with a problem that he would use when he was recruiting for D.E. Shaw. Only the best students from elite schools ever made it to this stage in the interview process and apparently all but a handful (accomplished problem solvers) ever answered the problem correctly.

Life After MATHCOUNTS

In his final lecture, Richard Rusczyk sent students, parents and teachers home with a great deal to consider. He spoke very frankly and persuasively about the short comings of the standard school curriculum. But rather than just criticize, he also laid out concrete ways that students, parents and teachers can all improve the situation.

We won’t attempt to summarize this excellent talk particularly since an early version of the slides can be accessed below. However, a couple of themes should be highlight. First was his emphasis on play and the importance of giving students the time and freedom to work on challenging problems. A second theme was the importance of building a math community for young problem solvers, and the central role that a Math Circle can play. Finally, Mr. Rusczyk endorsed what many of us have already discovered, that Dr. Titu Andreescu’s books and leadership have been critical to the Renaissance in global problem solving.

Richard Rusczyk has committed himself to fulfilling the principles in his presentation by founding the Art of Problem Solving. Please take the time to see his presentation and the other excellent resources he has collected and developed.

Richard Rusczyk Today!

The day has finally arrived, the first lecture of the MMC 2008-2009 season!  We are very pleased to have Richard Rusczyk join us from San Diego.  Richard is the author of many books used by accomplished problem solvers for individual study or as the backbone of a classroom course.  One example is his new book Introduction to Algebra.

Introduction to Algebra

Learn the basics of algebra from former USA Mathematical Olympiad winner and Art of Problem Solving founder Richard Rusczyk. Topics covered in the book include linear equations, ratios, quadratic equations, special factorizations, complex numbers, graphing linear and quadratic equations, linear and quadratic inequalities, functions, polynomials, exponents and logarithms, absolute value, sequences and series, and much more!

How to Write a Solution

One of the many things taught and practiced at a Math Circle is the invaluable skill of communicating a solution to another person.  This is a skill that many students find translates to fields beyond math as well.

Richard Rusczyk, our September 20th 2008 speaker, has written an excellent guide to solution writing based on his extensive experience.  Here is the introduction:

You’ve figured out the solution to the problem – fantastic! But you’re not finished. Whether you are writing solutions for a competition, a journal, a message board, or just to show off for your friends, you must master the art of communicating your solution clearly. Brilliant ideas and innovative solutions to problems are pretty worthless if you can’t communicate them. In this article, we explore many aspects of how to write a clear solution. Below is an index; each page of the article includes a sample ‘How Not To’ solution and ‘How To’ solution. One common theme you’ll find throughout each point is that every time you make an experienced reader have to think to follow your solution, you lose.

To access the guide please click on How to Write a Solution.

Introduction to Geometry – Richard Rusczyk

Our September 20th, 2008 speaker, Richard Rusczyk, is the author of several books designed to help teenage problem solvers. Introduction to Geometry is an excellent text that many of our Math Circle participants have used, often along with the Introduction to Geometry course at Art of Problem Solving.

Learn the fundamentals of geometry from former USA Mathematical Olympiad winner Richard Rusczyk. Topics covered in the book include similar triangles, congruent triangles, quadrilaterals, polygons, circles, funky areas, power of a point, three-dimensional geometry, transformations, and much more.

…the text is structured to inspire the reader to explore and develop new ideas. Each section starts with problems, so the student has a chance to solve them without help before proceeding. The text then includes solutions to these problems, through which geometric techniques are taught. Important facts and powerful problem solving approaches are highlighted throughout the text. In addition to the instructional material, the book contains over 900 problems. The solutions manual contains full solutions to all of the problems, not just answers.

The Calculus Trap

As we prepare for our first lecture of the year by Richard Rusczyk, we will share links to some articles that show his excellent observations on problem solving, education and their role in a full life. One of these outstanding articles is The Calculus Trap which begins with the following:

You love math and want to learn more. But you’re in ninth grade and you’ve already taken nearly all the math classes your school offers. They were all pretty easy for you and you’re ready for a greater challenge. What now? You’ll probably go to the local community college or university and take the next class in the core college curriculum. Chances are, you’ve just stepped in the calculus trap.

For an avid student with great skill in mathematics, rushing through the standard curriculum is not the best answer. That student who breezed unchallenged through algebra, geometry, and trigonometry, will breeze through calculus, too. This is not to say that high school students should not learn calculus – they should. But more importantly, the gifted, interested student should be exposed to mathematics outside the core curriculum, because the standard curriculum is not designed for the top students. This is even, if not especially, true for the core calculus curriculum found at most high schools, community colleges, and universities…

Please visit the Art of Problem Solving site to continue reading this and other articles by Richard and his colleagues.

Richard Rusczyk – September 20

We are very excited to kick off the 2008-2009 season of Metroplex Math Circle with a presentation by Mr. Richard Rusczyk founder of The Art of Problem Solving. Following is some information on Richard. As we get closer to the 20th we will be providing more information on his talk.

AoPS Incorporated was founded by Richard Rusczyk in 2003 to create interactive educational opportunities for avid math students. Richard Rusczyk is one of the co-authors of the Art of Problem Solving textbooks, author of Art of Problem Solving’s Introduction to Algebra and Introduction to Geometry textbooks, one of the co-creators of the Mandelbrot Competition, and the Director of the USA Mathematical Talent Search. He was a participant in National MATHCOUNTS, a three-time participant in the Math Olympiad Summer Program, and a USA Mathematical Olympiad winner (1989). He graduated from Princeton University in 1993, helped inaugurate ESPN’s SportsFigures program, and worked as a bond trader for D.E. Shaw & Company for four years. AoPS marks Richard’s return to his vocation – educating motivated students.