Geometric Etudes in Combinatorial Mathematics
Alexander SoiferThe etudes presented here are not simply those of Czerny, but are better compared to the etudes of Chopin, not only technically demanding and addressed to a variety of specific skills, but at the same time possessing an exceptional beauty that characterizes the best of art... Keep this book at hand as you plan your next problem solving seminar.
—Don Chakerian
THE AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL MONTHLY
Alexander Soifer’s Geometrical Etudes in Combinatorial Mathematics is concerned with beautiful mathematics, and it will likely occupy a special and permanent place in the mathematical literature, challenging and inspiring both novice and expert readers with surprising and exquisite problems and theorems… He conveys the joy of discovery as well as anyone, and he has chosen a topic that will stand the test of time.
—Cecil Rousseau
MEMPHIS STATE UNIVERSITY
Each time I looked at Geometrical Etudes in Combinatorial Mathematics I found something that was new and surprising to me, even after more than fifty years working in combinatorial geometry. The new edition has been expanded (and updated where needed), by several new delightful chapters. The careful and gradual introduction of topics and results is equally inviting for beginners and for jaded specialists. I hope that the appeal of the book will attract many young mathematicians to the visually attractive problems that keep you guessing how the questions will be answered in the end.
—Branko Grünbaum
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, SEATTLE
All of Alexander Soifer’s books can be viewed as excellent and artful entrees to mathematics in the MAPS mode... Different people will have different preferences among them, but here is something that Geometric Etudes does better than the others: after bringing the reader into a topic by posing interesting problems, starting from a completely elementary level, it then goes deep. The depth achieved is most spectacular in Chapter 4, on Combinatorial Geometry, which could be used as part or all of a graduate cour