Writing Math Research Papers

I would hate to give every math book I read 5 stars, but this book may be a hidden treasure and be overlooked in someone's search for a math book. The key in this book is to throughly explain that math research is a great way to learn. The target audience is advanced high school students or college undergraduates. It is much more like an outline on all the steps required to write a math paper. That is everything from choosing an idea, to keeping a journal, to formatting the paper, to presenting an oral presentation. The math is shown in the examples which are great. Proofs are discussed with examples, but remember the focus is on the project and not math theory. Most of the math is basic geometry and very easy to follow along. Gerver states that problem solving is assessed problem to problem. To learn it you have to solve problems. For example, there is an exercise where you draw a simple picture and your partner, without looking, ask mathematical questions to see if he can recreate the drawing. The paper will outline everything for the project. Chapter 10 deals with statistics and seems out of place, but again, the examples are excellent. One drawback was on the Kindle some of the example papers were impossible to read. But the book is an easy read. A lot of the discussion seems like common sense, but as you read along you see that everything fits nicely. (If you are a high school math teacher you will want this book. There is an appendix for instructors.)