Fabien Aoustin
140 articles published in Tangente
NewsN°230Jul 03, 2026The results of the Tangente Prizes for middle and high schools
The winners of the Tangente Prizes for middle and high schools are known. Nearly 3,000 students voted for their favorite mathematics books.
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Maths and HistoryN°229Apr 22, 2026From geometry to geopolitics
We tend to think of mathematics as a perfectly neutral science. Yet, like any human construct, its uses can prove more political than they appear. That is how an age-old geometry problem found its way into diplomatic debates in recent months.
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Math for everyoneN°227Dec 16, 2025Happy New Year 2026
Let's not break with our start-of-year tradition and explore together a few charming quirks of the new vintage!
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Math for everyoneN°227Dec 15, 2025Narcissistic numbers!
In the 1960s, while teaching at the University of Rochester in New York State, Mike Armstrong became particularly interested in k-digit numbers equal to the sum of the kth powers of their digits.
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Math for everyoneN°227Dec 15, 2025It doesn't take much to be happy
We know that mathematics can be a source of joy, but have you heard of happy numbers? Simple to define, they hold plenty of surprises and show just how much playing with integers remains an inexhaustible source of research at every level.
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Math for everyoneN°226Oct 10, 2025In real life
In physics as in architecture, parabolas often appear, whether to model phenomena or provide inspiration.
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History and CultureN°226Oct 09, 2025Tangents and the parabola: gems galore
Behind its sleek appearance, the parabola brims with fascinating properties. Thus, the study of its tangents reveals remarkable angular properties and offers a playground of astonishing richness, where classical geometry meets luminous reflections.
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History and CultureN°226Oct 09, 2025From Pascal to Poncelet
In the winter of 1812, the retreat from Russia ended in disaster. Jean-Victor Poncelet (1788–1867), a 24-year-old military engineer, was taken prisoner. Steeped in Gaspard Monge's (1746–1818) descriptive geometry, he laid the foundations of modern projective geometry in the prison camps of Saratov, without books or instruments.
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Math for everyoneN°226Oct 09, 2025Constructing a parabola
Constructing a parabola is both fun and highly instructive. It brings its geometric properties to life and even provides an opportunity to do some arithmetic.
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Math for everyoneN°95Aug 21, 2025Fermi's wacky problems
They contain no data, yet a little ingenuity and plenty of common sense are all you need to work them out in your head: welcome to the world of the wacky problems invented by physicist Enrico Fermi.
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Math for everyoneN°95Aug 21, 2025Logarithms to the rescue
Mental arithmetic usually brings to mind the four basic operations, or perhaps a few square-root calculations. Yet a little additional theoretical groundwork can take us much further, allowing us to tackle in our heads problems that might otherwise seem impossible without a calculator.
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Math for everyoneN°95Aug 21, 2025Heron's method for approximating square roots
What is the square root of 50? Since 50 is not a perfect square, the best we can give is an approximation. Put away our pencils and smartphones, and let's try to work it out in our heads.
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