Problem-Solving Strategies (Problem Books in Mathematics) Corrected Edition

This book must be your Bible if you are dead serious about IMO. It is not a good one to start with. Read about psychology of problem solving. I'd say 'Mathematical Problem Solving' by Alan Schoenfeld. Paul Zeitz has written a fantastic book which speaks a lot about psychology of problem solving quite a bit. This book lacks in that department; however, this book is simply the best book out there for someone trying to prepare for the Olympiad and has already been preparing for it with other more easy books.

When people ask me about my favorite books, I tell them about this one. It's a large collection of high quality material, densely packed, with clear introductory explanations, hundreds of interesting problems and insightful solutions to all problems provided.

My own field is computer science but love reading mathematics for its purity and occasional aha moments. This one I bought for my son at his request and I must admit that I was the first one to peruse through it. In my cursory reading I did enjoy going through each of the chapters. The author has a good command over his teaching style and he peppers it with thrilling anecdotes. It should definitely be seen on the desk of any serious mathematics student (at least at high school level). But I did also find some errors randomly and I wanted to exchange notes with others but sadly I could not find any site. Even springer does not have any errata listed for this book. Now that the book is out of the press, the publishers need to show some compassion for the buyers and issue an errata soon.

He aprendido mucho.

As other reviewers have noted, this book contains a wealth of material: techniques, examples, and problems that will introduce the reader to new concepts and/or hone their abilities. The problem sections at the end of each chapter alone are a boon for anyone studying for the "big" math competitions (IMO, Putnam, etc.), as they are extensive and include solutions.The reason I am giving the book 3 stars instead of 5 is that it appears to me to contain a number of errors, and inaccuracies/ambiguities of language. To a mathematically mature reader these may not pose much of a problem, but to a less-seasoned problem solver they might be rather perplexing. If you fall into the latter category, I would suggest, as another reviewer recommended, that you have the ready assistance of a more experienced person.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to taste the pleasure of solving math olympiad problems. A must-have book.

Beautifully written classic problem solving text. Lots of engaging, ingenuous problems.Yours truly,Albert R. MeyerHitachi America Professor of Computer ScienceDepartment of Electrical Engineering and Computer ScienceMassachusetts Institute of Technology

+ solutions- not all heuristics- no subchapter of the heuristic generalize. The term generalize means in this book conjecture making. The book Problem Solving Through Problems by Loren C. Larson contains the subchapter of the heuristic generalize.