His answer, which was entirely correct, had not been accepted as valid by the retailer. The young economics student took the matter to court in May, and the Toulouse District Court (Haute-Garonne) has now delivered its verdict. The judge ordered the retailer to pay him €734.80, the value of the prizes at stake. In doing so, he acknowledged that Valentin was indeed the only person to give the correct answer! The mathematical community can therefore rest assured: the usual rules of algebra have not been called into question.
Court and maths: an unprecedented ruling | Tangente
Court delivers verdict on a maths problem
Readers of Tangente 189 (page 5) will no doubt remember Valentin Desgranges, the 19-year-old from Toulouse who submitted a sensible mathematical answer to an online competition run by a major retail chain (Auchan).





