A Brief History of the Contests

Overview

The contests from which the problems in this book were drawn are direct descendants of one created in 1950 by the Metropolitan New York Section of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). Originally given only to students in the New York City area, the contests were first offered nationally in 1957 under the sponsorship of the MAA and the Society of Actuaries. The primary objective of the contests was, and still is, to promote the study of mathematics by providing high school students with a positive experience in creative problem solving. A secondary objective of identifying mathematically talented students was introduced in 1972, when about 100 top scorers were invited to participate in the USA Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO), an extremely challenging proof-oriented contest.

The 1950 contest was entitled simply, “Mathematical Contest.” The word “Annual” was added to the name in 1953. The solution booklet from 1959 is titled, “Annual H.S. Mathematics Examination.” Between 1959 and 1982 the titles of the contest and solution booklets used either “Contest” or “Examination,” the latter appearing more frequently in the later years. The words “High School” or the initials H.S. were sometimes, but not always, included in the title. In 1983 the contest officially became the American High School Mathematics Examination (AHSME). In the same year a third contest, the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME), was introduced as a stepping stone between the AHSME and the USAMO.