BERTRAND HAUCHECORNE
179 articles published in Tangente
Math for everyoneN°172Sep 12, 2016Percentages, for better or worse
Since antiquity, data have been compared by scaling the total to 100. The introduction of Arabic numerals gave percentages an important role, offering a clear, quick view of a wealth of statistical data... provided, of course, that one understands how they work and can count!
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Math for everyoneN°171Jul 07, 2016The Baccalauréat and Maths
Following on from Tangente 170 and its feature "Should We Abolish the Baccalauréat?" Robert Cabane, dean of the Inspection générale de mathématiques, sent us some interesting comments.
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Math for everyoneN°170May 13, 2016The calendar is good for calculations
Our calendar is organized into seven-day weeks. So we sometimes need to calculate remainders modulo 7…
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History and CultureN°170May 10, 2016The Liouville Journal
In 1832, the Annales de mathématiques pures et appliquées, better known as the Annales de Gergonne, ceased publication after twenty-two years.
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History and CultureN°170May 10, 2016Heine and the rigorous study of functions
Eduard Heine is not among the best-known mathematicians, even though his name is attached to a theorem on the uniform continuity of continuous functions on a closed interval.
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Math for everyoneN°59Apr 25, 2016The topological line
The topology of the real line underpins the concept of a limit and hence, among other things, those of continuity and differentiability. It deals with notions of proximity between points that arise from the order relation.
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History and CultureN°59Apr 25, 2016Did Descartes invent Cartesian coordinates?
To locate points in a plane, Cartesian coordinates are generally used. Descartes is credited with inventing this method, so much so that it bears his name. Wrongly?
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Math for everyoneN°59Apr 25, 2016The definition of the straight line through the ages
You thought you knew what a straight line is? Read on, and you may well start to doubt it…
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Math for everyoneN°169Mar 14, 2016The planets have nothing to do with it
Some arguments from astronomy can be set against the beliefs spread by astrology.
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History and CultureN°169Mar 14, 2016Scientists tempted by astrology
Astrology appealed to scientists when the origin of gravitational forces was still unknown. Since the advent of the scientific method, championed by Galileo and Descartes, and Newton's discoveries, it has been no more than an obscurantist pursuit.
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History and CultureN°169Mar 09, 2016Three brilliant mathematicians would have turned 100
1916 evokes the Battle of Verdun. That same year, Halmos, Shannon and Apéry were born. Though very different, they would share an unconventional personality and an original contribution.
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N°58Feb 23, 2016The Birth of Rational Medicine
Among the theorists of medicine in Antiquity, the names of Hippocrates and Galen, the first to use rational methods for studying disease, have gone down in history. Before them, Pythagoras had laid the first foundations of Western medicine.
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