The winners of the 2019 Tangente Prize for high school students
**
**
The two-volume comic-book series La Suite de Skolem (Pirate(s), 2016 and 2017; see the review in Tangente 180), written by Jean-François Kierzkowski and illustrated by Marek, has won the 2019 Tangente Prize. Mysterious apparitions, whose timing and locations follow the famous Skolem sequence, send the heroes on a frantic chase.
Two special mentions were awarded: Toute résistance serait futile by Jenny Colgan (Milady, 2017; see Tangente 183) draws readers into the adventures of Connie, a young mathematician, and her mysterious colleague Luke. La Théorie des jeux en images, by Ivan and Tuvana Pastine (EDP Sciences, 2018; see Tangente special issue 67), does a remarkable job of making game theory accessible.
See the full report at **www.tangente-education.com**
-
How it works
------------
The next Tangente Prize for High School Students will run throughout the 2019–2020 school year. The participating students (at least ten from each school) are divided into two groups, as are the ten selected books (see below). During the first phase of the prize, each student must read the five books assigned to their group. At the end of this period, in February, each group ranks the five books its members have read. These rankings are sent to the Club Tangente.
The rankings identified the favourite book in each of the two groups. These two books then face off in the second phase of the prize. All students must have read both books to serve on the panel that selects their school's winner in May. The Club Tangente then combines the results from all the high schools to determine the national winners.
Those are the only requirements. Beyond that, the organizers are free to decide on the details: the jury’s makeup, the criteria for assigning the groups, and how the books are ranked. More than two books may also be selected for the final round.
To register your school, email [email protected]
To celebrate the new edition, Clifford Pickover's Le Beau Livre des maths
(Dunod; see Tangente 138) will be sent to the first twenty schools to register.
For more information, visit www.tropheestangente.com/PTL2020.php
**
**
-
The 2020 selection
------------------
*• Le beau livre des maths.* Clifford Pickover, Dunod, 2010 (new edition in October 2019), 528 pages, 29 euros (coffee-table book).
*• Champignac – Enigma*. Beka, Dupuis, 2019, 64 pages, 14.50 euros (graphic novel).
*• Comme par hasard ! Coïncidences et loi des séries.* Nicolas Gauvrit and Jean-Paul Delahaye, Book-e-Book, 2012, 60 pages, 11 euros (essay).
*• Mathématiques congolaises.* In Koli Jean Bofane, Actes Sud, 2011, 316 pages, 8.70 euros (novel).
*• La théorie du chaos en images.* Ziauddin Sardar, EDP Sciences, 2019, 176 pages, 9.90 euros (popular science).
*• Histoires extraordinaires des mathématiques et de l’informatique en bande dessinée.* Nesim Fritz, Anfortas, 2018, 48 pages, 16 euros (graphic novel).
*• Les oscillations de Joseph Fourier.* Emmanuel Cerisier and Emmanuel Marie, Petit à Petit, 2018, 64 pages, 16.90 euros (graphic novel).
*• Le théorème de Kropst.* Emmanuel Arnaud, Métailié, 2012, 144 pages, 14 euros (novel).
*• Un peu de science, ça ne peut pas faire de mal (Volume 1).* Jacques Treiner, Cassini, 2017, 190 pages, 7 euros (columns).
• *L'enfant qui mesurait le monde*. Metin Arditi, Grasset, 2016, 304 pages, 17 euros (novel).
