A Festival of Mathematics (MSRI Mathematical Circles Library)

This book, inspired by the Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival, aims to engage students in mathematical discovery through fun and approachable problems that reveal deeper mathematical ideas. Each chapter starts with a gentle on-ramp, such as a game or puzzle requiring no more than simple arithmetic or intuitive concepts of symmetry. Follow-up problems and activities require intuitive logic and reveal more sophisticated notions of strategy and algorithms. Projects are designed so that progress is more important than any end goal, ensuring that students will learn something significant no matter how far they get. The process of understanding the questions and how they build on one another becomes an exhilarating ride, revealing serious mathematics before the reader is aware of the transition. This book can be used in classrooms, math clubs, after school activities, homeschooling, and parent/student gatherings and is appropriate for students of age 8 to 18, as well as for teachers wanting to hone their skills. In the interest of fostering a greater awareness and appreciation of mathematics and its connections to other disciplines and everyday life, MSRI and the AMS are publishing books in the Mathematical Circles Library series as a service to young people, their parents and teachers, and the mathematics profession.