ANTOINE HOULOU-GARCIA
62 articles published in Tangente
Maths and philosophyN°93Feb 11, 2025Editorial
The history of mathematics is a fascinating field that allows us to rediscover the discipline as a whole, moving beyond hearsay and urban legends that reduce the complex development of human thought to grossly oversimplified accounts.
Read →
History and CultureN°221Dec 18, 2024The Irène-Joliot-Curie Prize honors Sylvie Méléard
A specialist in probability theory, particularly stochastic processes, Sylvie Méléard has spent the past twenty years applying mathematical models to living systems: changes in population size over time (such as bacterial growth), the proportion of an allele in a population, and genetic evolution (such as antibiotic resistance).
Read →
History and CultureN°221Dec 17, 2024From political arithmetic to social mathematics
Condorcet is not the first to seek to apply mathematics to public life. Yet he sets himself radically apart from his predecessors—and lays claim to that distinction—by coining the phrase "social mathematics."
Read →
Math for everyoneN°220Oct 17, 2024Italo Calvino's mathematical writing
Widely read in Italian schools and universities, Italo Calvino is a major author, renowned for the literary quality of his work. He was also an avid lover of mathematics and readily drew on it in his writing, particularly to structure his texts, as one would expect of a committed Oulipian.
Read →
History and CultureN°91Aug 24, 2024The origins of complex analysis
Cauchy is often credited with single-handedly founding complex analysis. The reality is subtler: although Cauchy gave the subject its structure and rigor, he drew on a wealth of earlier research, notably dating back to d’Alembert. Moreover, his involvement was prompted by debates between Laplace and Poisson over whether the use of complex numbers in integral calculations was legitimate. To understand Cauchy’s work, then, we must reconstruct its entire intellectual context.
Read →
History and CultureN°219Aug 23, 2024Secrets from the archives...
For its YouTube channel, the Académie des sciences produced a series entitled "Treasures from the archives." Each episode, lasting around five minutes, features a member of the Academy presenting a document from its archives.
Read →
Math for everyoneN°219Aug 23, 2024"Women in science: where are they?"
On June 18, 2024, the French Academy of Sciences published a 32-page report highlighting the shortage of women in scientific professions in France.
Read →
History and CultureN°219Aug 22, 2024A (good) Babylonian approximation
The Babylonians have always been renowned as brilliant mathematicians, and the clay tablets that have survived sometimes bear dazzling witness to their skill.
Read →
History and CultureN°219Aug 22, 2024Marcia Ascher, a leading figure in ethnomathematics
Behind a wealth of research in ethnomathematics, mathematician Maria Ascher is regarded as one of the founders of this new discipline
Read →
Games and ChallengesN°218Jun 13, 2024The egg equation
Three researchers, Valery Narushin, Michael Romanov and Darren Griffin, recently published a paper proposing a general formula for drawing the outline of any real egg.
Read →
History and CultureN°218Jun 12, 2024Allais and the limits of utilitarianism
The paradox formulated by the French economist Maurice Allais exposes a contradiction in an earlier theory of decision-making. But the paradox is only apparent and, above all, illustrates a major limitation of rational choice theory.
Read →
History and CultureN°218Jun 12, 2024The notion of paradox
The terms "paradox" and "paradoxical" are part of everyday language. In mathematics and logic, however, they have precise meanings that need to be clarified if we are to understand what we are talking about and what status to assign to so-called "paradoxical" results.
Read →