Users who enjoy mathematics can find various mathematical web sites on the Internet. One group of these sites offers a user materials for learning basic topics in algebra, geometry and other math topics. Another group deals with very specific subjects, such as fractals, theory of nodes, etc., and is targeted for users with a high level of mathematical skills. Finally, there is a MathBoard page which is designed strictly for communication purposes between math fans.
Our idea was to create a mathematical web site which would suit a broad audience, and would be useful and interesting for users of various mathematical backgrounds. Even those who never identified themselves as math fans are known to get interested and involved in solving challenging math problems and sharing their own problems with other users all around the world.
We designed our web site using most of the modern software packages available today. The structure of the site was created using MS FrontPage 98. We created our images on this site with TrueSpace 3.0. Dynamics were added to this site in the form of problem and message posting, and it was implemented by modifying a script obtained from Matt's Archives .We also used CGI and Java scripts. Another CGI script came from Jeffrey's Archives.
Most of the mathematical problems posted on the Math Tour are original ones, created by the authors or translated from the original Russian mathematical books. We hope that our users from all over the world will be inspired to add their own problems, and the Math Tour will become international center for math problem exchange.
About the Authors
Alex is 15 and enjoys computers. He will start his junior year at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia, U.S.A. this fall.
Vladimir is 13 and enjoys mathematics and computers. He graduated from Washington Irving Middle School, and will go to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia, U.S.A this fall.
Zhenya is 15 and enjoys mathematics and biology. She attends school #9 in Ekaterinburg, Russia.
Credits
We would like to thank our coaches Mr. M. Stueben, Dr. S. Novakovski and Dr. E. Sadovskaya for their participating in discussion of our ideas and help in creating this Web site. We give our credit to publishers Brooks/Cole Publishing Company for the permission to use material from the book In Mathematical Circles: A Selection of Mathematical Stories and Anecdotes by H. Eves and the Mathematical Association of America for the permission to use material from the book Twenty Years Before the Blackboard by M. Stueben and D. Sanford. These materials are the core of the Math Stories and the Humor page. We also thank Matts Archives for the Perl script which we used and created our modified versions in our Communication page (Math Board) and New Problem page. We thank GNG Enterprises, Inc. for purchasing software and providing internet access.
