About this title: Olson follows the six contestants at the 2001 International Mathematical Olympiad and uncovers a fascinating subculture and its engaging, driven inhabitants.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company
Date Published: 04/2004
ISBN-13:9780618251414ISBN:0618251413
Description: Fine in fine dust jacket. Like New, Unread, not previously owned. May show signs of wear including remainder marks or stickers on book or cover., In like new dust jacket. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 244 p. Contains: Illustrations. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Mariner Books
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9780618562121ISBN:0618562125
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Very good plus condition. Light corner wear. No marks. Tight, square book. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 244 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Mariner Books
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780618562121ISBN:0618562125
Description: Like New. INTERESTING BOOK! NICE COVER, CLEAN PAGES, NO MARKINGS. Description: Olson follows the six contestants at the 2001 International Mathematical Olympiad and uncovers a fascinating subculture and its engaging, driven inhabitants. read more
Description: Fine. No dust jacket as issued. No Creasing. No Writing. No Highlighting. Like New. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 244 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Date Published: 2004-04-02
ISBN-13:9780618251414ISBN:0618251413
Description: New. Book is Brand New, Gift condition. Free tracking # included! International buyers are welcome. We ship every business day. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very Good. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very Good. Former Library book. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Like New. Book in almost Brand New condition. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Mariner Books
Date Published: 2005-07-06
ISBN-13:9780618562121ISBN:0618562125
Description: Good. Minimal damage to the cover, dust jacket not necessarily included minimal wear to binding, majority of pages undamaged, minimal to no highlighting/underlining of text, no missing p. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Date Published: 4/2/2004
ISBN-13:9780618251414ISBN:0618251413
Description: New. Hardback w/ DJ. You are buying a Book in NEW condition with very light shelf wear to include very light edge and corner wear. Buy it Now! ! ! As always, thank you for buying this book from International Book Source, YOUR ONE source FOR ALL your BOOK related NEEDS. Please remember to CHOOSE carefully how QUICKLY you would like to RECEIVE this material FAST, or standard (on next page). Thanks again! ! ! ! read more
Description: Fine. 0618251413 VG DJ, text clean and unmarked, binding tight, appears unread, no marks, packaged carefully shipped same day with free tracking. read more
"Having competed in math competitions when I was younger, I thought this might be interesting, so I picked it up from the remainders pile at the Harvard Book Store. Olson does a commendable job of explaning difficult math problems in a way that the non-math-geek can understand, and the fact that the Olympiad is essentially six word problems allows him to dissect one problem (and the competitors' thinking regarding it) per chapter. A quick and engaging read, though I do wish Olson had spent a little more time focusing on the personalities of the kids themselves. There are some remarkably odd and fascinating people who get involved in these competitions, and I think the book would have benefitted from more insight into their "characters", as it were."
"Quick read. A bit of math, but not too much. Just enough to keep me entertained.
The format got tiresome after awhile: each chapter begins with a scene from the Olympiad or some personal story about a participant; then a more general topic in education or mathematics is discussed, and the chapter concludes with a wrapping-up of the initial scene.
The intros to general ed and math topics are cursory, but cover a wide range of topics. This book might serve as a good starting place to pursue some of the more current crises facing educators in math, most notably the Math Wars and the generally horrible state of American Mathematics Education / ramifications of NCLB (author does not take this one head-on) / test-taking crazes."
"I was enjoying learning about the International Mathematical Olympiad, getting a glimpse into the kids who compete at these things, but then I put it down for a bit to read some fiction. Now I find I'm not that enthusiastic about picking it up again. It's well written and the author makes what could be considered a dry subject quite interesting--the focus isn't so much on the math itself, but on the study of mathematics in the US vs. other countries, and what makes a "genius." Even though the upshot is everyone contains the makings of genius, I think my problem with finishing the book is I was a math major in college, and I feel like a big ol' dummy next to these kids. I can't even say I've *forgotten* more things than these kids know! Too depressing for me...."
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