Mathematical problems and puzzles have proliferated for centuries in all sorts of settings. Some of these challenges, for which no solution was known at the time, made history by revealing mathematicians' talents or even giving rise to new theories. Over the past century, the creation of problems has intensified, chiefly through two channels: mathematics competitions and newspaper and magazine columns.
National and international Mathematical Olympiads, first held in Eastern European countries in 1959, have spread widely. Initially intended mainly for students at baccalauréat level, they branched out, via new competitions, to every school level and also to adults. Thus France saw its first mathematics rallies emerge in the 1980s, followed by the International Championship of Mathematical Games in 1986 and the Kangaroo competition in 1991, modelled on the Australian competition launched in 1978.
At the same time, appealing problem design inspired many writers and communicators who sought to bring mathematics to a broad audience through newspaper columns and, more recently, websites. Initially confined to the scientific press, mathematical puzzles spread to many other outlets. The American Martin Gardner (see Tangente 136, 2010) was one of the pioneers—so much so that enthusiasts gather each year to celebrate him at G4G ("Gathering for Gardner"). Such columns soon spread around the world. In France, the trailblazer Pierre Berloquin was followed by Gilles Cohen, who was joined first by Élisabeth Busser and then by Jean-Louis Legrand in the weekly "Affaire de logique" column in Le Monde. To the great dismay of its thousands of readers, the column was discontinued in November 2020 after twenty-three years and 1,164 problems! The good news is that it will return in early September (see box on the following page). Websites have also been created around the subject, including the French-language sites diophante.fr, affairedelogique.com, recreomath.qc.ca and therese.eveilleau.pagesperso-orange.fr, and the English-language site artofproblemsolving.com.
The big question ------------------
But every problem setter is inevitably asked the same question: "How do you keep coming up with something new? After devising 1,164 problems, how do you still find inspiration? How do you continue to captivate your readers? How do you devise creative solutions?" This article was written in part to answer those questions.