All articles
Dive into the fascinating world of mathematics with our captivating articles, written by passionate experts. Whether you are a curious amateur or a seasoned mathematician, our articles cover a wide range of topics, from fundamental concepts to the latest discoveries, including practical applications and philosophical reflections.
Tips for testing or estimating
How can we cut the cost of tests or estimate the size of groups of infected people without knowing which ones they are? Here are a few tricks!
Crossed etymologies
Most medical terms are of Greek origin, sometimes Latin. And while mathematics is sometimes reluctant to draw on ancient languages, certain fields have borrowed vocabulary from them. This explains why we find common roots in these two disciplines.
Maths applied to medicine
Mathematics is essential to cutting-edge technology
Mathematics and medicine news
Mathematics in everyday medicine
Diagnosis: Medical reasoning
Mathematical reasoning leads to certainties, provided it respects logic and the axioms, whereas even the most competent doctor can make a mistake in a diagnosis. How can we explain this difference?
The proportional compass
Two thin, hinged plates for calculating proportions.
The king of geometry: Thales' theorem
In France, Thales' theorem concerns parallel lines and proportionality. Its proof, combining algebra and plane geometry, is remarkably elegant. It also leads naturally to two landmark results in triangle geometry: Menelaus' and Ceva's theorems.
From the Fields Medal to the Abel Prize: researchers in the spotlight
Since the beginning of the 20th century, a host of awards have been established to honor the finest researchers. What do they bring to mathematics? Do they spur research? And how well do our fellow countrymen fare?
Tales of Thales
Thales fascinates! Many historians of science and mathematics have taken an interest in this legendary figure.
Elitism and the recognition of academic achievement | Tangente
A democracy's vitality depends on selecting its elites according to ambitious cultural standards. Yet many politicians seem to deny both the beneficial social role of excellence and its importance to a country's future.
Beware of statistics
A news brief in Challenges 429 (April 2015) reports that "48% of American women aged 15 to 44 have no children."
The Simpsons: a website and books — maths in series | Tangente
Countless series have taken an interest in science over the past dozen years or so. Mostly crime dramas, they draw on elements from biology, and sometimes from mathematics, as with Numb3rs.
The subverted geometry of Julien Prévieux | Tangente
The exhibition by Julien Prévieux, winner of the 2014 Marcel Duchamp Prize, "Des corps schématiques", running until 1 February 2016 at the Centre Pompidou (Paris), is not, strictly speaking, mathematical art, but since its theme is the recording of movement, some of the artist's geometric obsessions inevitably appear.
Arithmetic on stage: when numbers invade the stage | Tangente
Reality, by Daria Deflorian and Antonio Tagliarini, was performed this past autumn at the Théâtre de la Colline in Paris (20th arrondissement), and what interests us here is not so much the play's characters as the relationship between its heroine, Janina Turek, and numbers.
Music, serenity, and fractal art: a meeting | Tangente
The artist Alan Stivell, a musician, lyricist, composer and performer well known to defenders of Breton culture, chose a fractal image to illustrate his twenty-fourth album, AMzer (World Village, 2015).
Girls' mathematics competitions: EGMO and more | Tangente
There have always been girls' athletics and skiing competitions, and girls' chess competitions have existed since 1927... So why not consider mathematics competitions for girls? Let's take stock of the existing initiatives.
Did you say "Extraordinary"? Magic square and memory | Tangente
When film puts mathematics in the spotlight, it is often to link it with autism, as in the recent film Le Monde de Nathan (see Tangente 165). When television puts it in the spotlight, it is to showcase feats.
Dynamic geometry: plane motion | Tangente
Plane motion provides a valuable framework for using kinematics to study the geometric properties of figures. In particular, it offers an efficient and insightful way to determine loci. In the past, it was studied in connection with the connecting-rod and crank mechanisms of locomotives.
Adventurers of the forgotten pentagon: tiling the plane | Tangente
The recent discovery of a pentagon that tiles the plane brings to mind an endearing figure: Marjorie Rice. An American homemaker, she would hide away in her kitchen to indulge her passion for mathematics.
Thales and his theorem: historical uncertainty explained | Tangente
Who has never heard of Thales's theorem? Yet this extremely famous geometric statement is also one of the theorems whose history is least certain. Let's try to separate history from legend...