In recent times much effort has been devoted to the improvement of mathematics teaching on all levels. Thus it is only natural that we search for further stimulants and improvements in this direction, as well as for new means of discovering and developing the dormant abilities which may exist in our society. The Monograph Project of the School Mathematics Study Group has such a purpose. The present translation of the Hungarian problem collection of the Eötvös Competition serves this goal. Since I am one of the few still existing links between the present mathematical generation and an older one that witnessed the first phase of the interesting development of this competition, I was asked to write a few introductory words to the English version of this collection.

The Eötvös Competition was organized in Hungary in 1894 and played a remarkable role in the development of mathematics in that small country. The competition was open to all freshmen entering the university; the publication of the problems and the names of the winners was from the beginning a public event of first class interest. Among the winners during the period of the first decade of the competition were such men as Fejér, von Kármán, Haar, Riesz, and numerous others who later became internationally known. With some short interruptions due to wars and related conditions the competition has been carried on to the present day, though the name was changed, and the organization and scope of the competition have become much broader in recent years.