Putnam Competition

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2009 Freshman Prize Information

2009 Rochester Olympiad Information



A very nice new Putnam preparation book is Putnam and Beyond by Razvan Gelca and Titu Andreescu. The Cornell (Math) library has electronic access to this book. If you look it up in the catalog from an on campus computer, you can click on "Connect to fulltext" and read it online. From off campus, this should also be possible through the library electronic gateway.

We have weekly practice sessions in the Fall starting at 4:45 in the Malott fifth floor lounge.

Practice Putnam Exam 2008

2008's Putnam practices were organized by Prof. Hubbard, Prof. Muscalu, and Dr. Back.

Last Update: March 30, 2009

E-mail to
putnam@math.cornell.edu
is one way to be added to our Putnam preparation mailing list and registered for the exam.

Books on Reserve during Fall 2008 in the Math Library

(Since we are not a course, the library has had some trouble listing these books under course reserve. They suggest going to the online catalog, clicking on Course Reserve, and then searching with DEPARTMENT "Math" and INSTRUCTOR "Allen Back".)
The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition problems,solutions, and commentary : 1985-2000
Kiran S. Kedlaya, Bjorn Poonen, Ravi Vakil.
The William Lowell Putnam mathematical competition : problems and solutions, 1938-1964
A.M. Gleason, R.E. Greenwood, L.M. Kelly.
The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition : problems and solutions, 1965-1984
Gerald L. Alexanderson, Leonard F. Klosinski, Loren C. Larson.
Problem solving through problems
Loren C. Larson.
Problem-solving strategies
Arthur Engel.
Polynomials
E.J. Barbeau.
The Cauchy-Schwarz master class : an introduction to the art of mathematical inequalities
J. Michael Steele.
Geometric problems on maxima and minima
Titu Andreescu, Oleg Mushkarov, Luchezar Stoyanov.
104 Number theory problems : from the training of the USA IMO team
Titu Andreescu, Dorin Andrica, Zuming Feng.
102 combinatorial problems : from the training of the USA IMO team
Titu Andreescu, Zuming Feng.
Index to mathematical problems, 1975-1979
edited by Stanley Rabinowitz and Mark Bowron.
Index to mathematical problems, 1980-1984
edited by Stanley Rabinowitz.


One of the most beautiful Putnam preparation books is the 1985-2000 collection by Kiran S. Kedlaya, Bjorn Poonen, and Ravi Vakil. Available from the MAA or e.g. Amazon.

Older Materials

Some Resources

William Lowell Putnam Competition Archive.
Excellent source for solutions 1995-present.
John Scholes Putnam Problems
Huge and amazingly complete, but with rephrasings due to copyright needs, and often brief solutions.
(Original Link no longer working?)
Copy of Archive of the John Scholes Putnam Collection. (link added 2/09)
Wayback Machine with Archives of the Web from the Past
John Scholes IMO site.
International Math Olympiad Problems are sometimes at a similar level to Putnam ones.
(Link no longer working?)
Dave Rusin's Putnam Page
Official Awards Site
Google Problem Archives Pointers
Official Website for Putnam Competition
American Mathematical Monthly via JSTOR
Archives here contain annual writeups (e.g. Oct. 85-87, 89, 93-98) of the competition. More months listed here.
Prof. Kahan's Berkeley Preparation Notes
Many years worth in one place.
International Mathematics Competition for University Students
Canadian IMO Site
IMO Compendium
IMO Compendium Olympiad Training Materials
Putnam Fellow
from the Wikipedia. Includes some interesting historical information.

E-mail to
putnam@math.cornell.edu
will be forwarded to this year's local organizers. (

John Hubbard, Camil Muscalu, Allen Back)

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