The Berkeley Math Circle commences in the fall of 1998. The Math Circle is intended for talented high school students who are interested in extending their mathematical knowledge and skills well beyond what the high school curriculum offers, and who are willing to take up the challenges of mathematical problem solving. The Circle will gather once a week in Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley. The 2-hour sessions will be a combination of advanced high school math topics, relevant theory and an abundance of challenging problems.
The Math Circles originated in Hungary more than a century ago. The math circles soon spread over Eastern Europe and Asia, and they eventually led to the start of many national and international math contests, including the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) in 1959 in Romania. The United States joined the IMO in 1974, and since then its team has performed among the very top of the approximately 80 participating countries. This success, however, has been due mainly to the extraordinary individual effort of the few team members and their coaches and personal mentors. The system of math circles that exists in countries like Russia, Romania and Bulgaria, is only starting now to develop in the United States.
Our Math Circle will be run by university faculty and teachers who are prominent problem solvers, competitors and coaches of math teams in the US and abroad (cf. the list of the coaches of our Math Circle.) We hope to establish a mutual understanding and support between the students and the coaches, and to nurture our common enthusiasm for the wonders of mathematics. In receiving systematic training in mathematical problem solving, our students will be provided with the theory and necessary techniques, and will be given the opportunity to apply these with imagination and originality during the sessions and while attacking homework problems on their own. Our students will also learn that solving a good problem is not a five- or ten- minute affair, but one that could last hours or even days, entailing lots of concentration as well as enthusiasm.
The activities of our math circle will be centered around preparation for several math events of challenging character, such as
BAMO is a local version of the USA Math Olympiad, and it is part of the same project as our Math Circle. The first BAMO will take place in February of 1999. We are now developing a web site for BAMO and Math Circles at http://www.gunn.palo-alto.ca.us/bamo/ There you can find a brochure on the Bay Area Mathematical Olympiad and Math Circles with sample problems, literature, a discussion on the difference between a Math Club and a Math Circle, and a description of the Olympiad.
The Math Circle is sponsored by