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Math for everyone
Celestial parabolas | Tangente
Imagine the Solar System as a collection of different bodies—planets, comets…—subject only to the Sun’s gravitational pull. Classical mechanics then tells us that their orbits can trace only three types of curve: ellipses, hyperbolas and parabolas.
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Math for everyone
Éric Trouillot: Mental arithmetic, a path to jubilation | Tangente
The inventor of the calculation game Mathador, Éric Trouillot is one of those working to bring mental arithmetic back into teaching practice. In his view, far from being tricks performed by trained monkeys, techniques for calculating in one's head are an excellent gateway into the world of numbers, as well as an irreplaceable way to put mathematical properties — such as the distributivity of multiplication — into concrete practice.
BENOIT RITTAUDAug 20, 2025
Math for everyone
Mental arithmetic: first steps | Tangente
A few tricks can make mental arithmetic more efficient
BENOIT RITTAUDAug 20, 2025
History and Culture
A mathematical password: sin x in 1830 | Tangente
In their 1894 book on the slang of the École polytechnique, Albert Lévy and Gaston Pinet recount an anecdote illustrating the atmosphere that could prevail in Paris during the revolutions of 1830 and 1848.
BENOIT RITTAUDAug 25, 2024