Anne Boyé
22 articles published in Tangente
N°228Feb 14, 2026At last, women mathematicians on the Eiffel Tower!
In February 1889, Gustave Eiffel decided to inscribe in gold lettering, on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower, the names of 72 scientists who had brought honor to France since 1789.
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N°97Feb 11, 2026Bryn Mawr: a revolution in America
Founded in 1885, Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania is a women's college and a leading center for mathematical research. Charlotte Angas Scott played a central role there and helped create the "golden triangle" linking Bryn Mawr, Girton and Göttingen.
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N°97Feb 11, 2026Mary Everest Boole and modern education
Mary Everest Boole should not be reduced to her role as the wife of her illustrious husband. Not only was she a genuine mathematician, but her work as an educator, bringing mathematics to girls, was both highly original and remarkably modern. Her influence can still be felt today.
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N°97Feb 10, 2026Where are the women in the history of mathematics?
The history of mathematics has been written almost exclusively by men. Yet many women mathematicians have existed: not only the great names, but also many names erased by history. Grace Chisholm, for example, is a striking case of what is known as the Matilda effect.
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History and CultureN°97Feb 10, 2026Women mathematicians in history: more numerous than you might think
This article explores the place of women in mathematics across the centuries, from the ancient world to the present day, and sheds light on those who have for too long been forgotten.
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History and CultureN°226Oct 07, 2025When Legendre believes he has proved the fifth postulate
For two millennia, mathematicians sought to prove Euclid's fifth postulate. Adrien-Marie Legendre believed he had found a proof, before realizing that his proof implicitly assumed the truth of that same postulate. A circular argument…
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History and CultureN°222Feb 10, 2025A century ago: equal access to the baccalauréat
Exactly 100 years ago, girls' secondary schools were authorized to offer the same curriculum as boys' schools. Girls could now officially prepare for the baccalauréat there without having to take supplementary classes.
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Math for everyoneN°220Oct 17, 2024The curiosities of antiparallelism
In elementary geometry, proportionality often involves parallel lines, through the intercept theorem. But there are also antiparallel lines. Might there likewise be such a thing as "antiproportionality"?
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Math for everyoneN°214Oct 17, 2023Numbers or not?
Irrational numbers had a troubled beginning. Introducing roots of integers that are not perfect powers raised many questions about the nature and essence of numbers. Is a radical incommensurable with unity and its subdivisions a number?
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History and CultureN°214Oct 16, 2023Marguerite's Theorem:
Anna Novion's film Marguerite's Theorem had already won numerous prizes and awards before it even reached cinemas. Anna Novion, the director, and Ariane Mézard, the mathematician who advised her, agreed to answer Tangente's questions.
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Math for everyoneN°214Oct 13, 2023Roots and continued fractions
There are other ways to represent real numbers besides our decimal notation! One of the best known is to write a number as a continued fraction. The resulting representations, even when truncated, very quickly provide "good" approximations of the original number.
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Math for everyoneN°213Aug 28, 2023Marguerite at the ENS
Le Théorème de Marguerite, screened last June at the La Baule Festival, received a standing ovation!
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