Ross Honsberger (1929–2016) was a Canadian mathematician and author on

recreational mathematics Recreational mathematics is mathematics carried out for recreation (entertainment) rather than as a strictly research and application-based professional activity or as a part of a student's formal education. Although it is not necessarily limited ...

Life

Honsberger studied mathematics at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

, with a bachelor's degree, and then worked for ten years as a teacher in Toronto, before continuing his studies at the

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a public research university with a main campus in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to "Uptown" Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also operates ...

(master's degree). Since 1964 he had been on the faculty of mathematics, where he later became a professor emeritus. He dealt with combinatorics and

optimization Mathematical optimization (alternatively spelled ''optimisation'') or mathematical programming is the selection of a best element, with regard to some criterion, from some set of available alternatives. It is generally divided into two subfi ...

, especially with

mathematics education In contemporary education, mathematics education, known in Europe as the didactics or pedagogy of mathematics – is the practice of teaching, learning and carrying out scholarly research into the transfer of mathematical knowledge. Although re ...

. He developed education courses, for example, on

combinatorial geometry Discrete geometry and combinatorial geometry are branches of geometry that study combinatorial properties and constructive methods of discrete geometric objects. Most questions in discrete geometry involve finite or discrete sets of basic geo ...

, held frequently lectures for students and math teachers, and was editor of the ''Ontario Secondary School Mathematics Bulletin''. He wrote numerous books on elementary mathematics (

geometry Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is ...

number theory Number theory (or arithmetic or higher arithmetic in older usage) is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers and integer-valued functions. German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855) said, "Mat ...

, combinatorics,

probability theory Probability theory is the branch of mathematics concerned with probability. Although there are several different probability interpretations, probability theory treats the concept in a rigorous mathematical manner by expressing it through a set ...

), and

(often at the Mathematical Association of America, MAA), with him in his own words using the book by

Hans Rademacher Hans Adolph Rademacher (; 3 April 1892, Wandsbeck, now Hamburg-Wandsbek – 7 February 1969, Haverford, Pennsylvania, USA) was a German-born American mathematician, known for work in mathematical analysis and number theory. Biography Rademacher r ...

and

Otto Toeplitz Otto Toeplitz (1 August 1881 – 15 February 1940) was a German mathematician working in functional analysis., reprinted in Life and work Toeplitz was born to a Jewish family of mathematicians. Both his father and grandfather were ''Gymnasiu ...

of numbers and figures as a model. Frequent were his expositions of problems at the

International Mathematical Olympiad The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is a mathematical olympiad for pre-university students, and is the oldest of the International Science Olympiads. The first IMO was held in Romania in 1959. It has since been held annually, except i ...

s and other competitions. Edsger W. Dijkstra called his ''Mathematical Gems'' "delightful".

Books

* ''Ingenuity in Mathematics'',

New Mathematical Library The School Mathematics Study Group (SMSG) was an American academic think tank focused on the subject of reform in mathematics education. Directed by Edward G. Begle and financed by the National Science Foundation, the group was created in the wak ...

, Random House / Singer 1970 * ''Mathematical Gems'', MAA 1973, 2003 (Mathematical Expositions Dolciani Vol.1), German Mathematical gems of elementary combinatorics, number theory and geometry, Wiley, 1990, , Chapter "The Story of Louis Posa". * ''Mathematical Gems 2'', MAA 1975 (Vol.2 Dolciani Mathematical Expositions) * ''Mathematical Gems 3'', MAA 1985, 1991 (vol.9 Dolciani Mathematical Expositions) * ''Mathematical Morsels'', MAA 1978 (Vol.3 Dolciani Mathematical Expositions) * ''More Mathematical Morsels'', MAA 1991 (Dolciani Bd.10 Mathematical Expositions) * ''Mathematical Plums'', MAA 1979 (vol.4 Dolciani Mathematical Expositions) * ''Mathematical Chestnuts from around the world'', MAA 2001 (Dolciani Bd.24 Mathematical Expositions) * ''Mathematical Diamonds'', MAA 2003 * ''In Pólya's Footsteps'', MAA 1997 (Dolciani Bd.19 Mathematical Expositions) * ''Episodes in nineteenth and twentieth century euclidean geometry'', MAA 1995 * ''From Erdos to Kiev – Problems of Olympiad Caliber'', MAA 1997 * ''Mathematical Delights'', MAA 2004 (Dolciani Mathematics Expositions Bd.28)

References

External links

Ross Honsberger
at a website of the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Honsberger, Ross 1929 births Canadian mathematicians Recreational mathematicians Mathematics popularizers Scientists from Toronto University of Toronto alumni 2016 deaths Academic staff of the University of Waterloo