Fabien Aoustin
140 articles published in Tangente
History and CultureN°221Dec 17, 2024A project for a numeral system
During the French Revolution, the National Constituent Assembly decided to standardize weights and measures and entrusted several scientists, including Condorcet, with determining the length of what would become the metre. In the same spirit of rationalization and simplification, Condorcet turned his attention to the education of young children.
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Math for everyoneN°92Dec 04, 2024A little gem from Gauss
Triangles and quadrilaterals have inspired a wealth of mathematical literature. Yet few people seem to have taken a close interest in pentagons before a certain Carl Friedrich Gauss, who gave us a little gem for calculating their areas.
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Math for everyoneN°92Dec 04, 2024Robbins pentagons
While the geometry of triangles and quadrilaterals has been studied in detail for many centuries, the geometry of pentagons has only recently begun to be explored. Let's follow in the footsteps of Heron, Brahmagupta and Robbins.
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History and CultureN°220Oct 17, 2024Daniel Litt's probability problems
The young mathematician Daniel Litt currently holds a position at the University of Toronto. His research usually explores the interplay between algebraic geometry and arithmetic. Yet in recent months, he has attracted attention in an entirely different field, even earning an interview with the renowned online publication Quanta Magazine.
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History and CultureN°220Oct 15, 2024Integer polygons
The discovery that so simple a figure as a square cannot have both sides and diagonals of integer length troubled several great scholars of antiquity. Can polygons with this property nevertheless be found? This seemingly innocent question continues to open up new avenues of research today.
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Math for everyoneN°219Aug 23, 2024Images des mathématiques gets a makeover
You can hardly have missed the Images des mathématiques website since its launch in 2009! This online magazine quickly established itself as an essential resource for sharing and popularizing mathematics.
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Math for everyoneN°218Jun 14, 2024The 2024 Tangente high school students' prize
The ninth Tangente High School Students' Prize ran throughout the 2023–2024 school year. It is a flagship initiative promoting mathematics among young people—an aim close to your magazine's heart.
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History and CultureN°218Jun 13, 2024Penney's paradox
Does tossing a coin strike you as simplistic and dull? Be careful, though: it has some baffling surprises in store!
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History and CultureN°216Feb 20, 2024The ninth Dedekind number
Some well-known number sequences have thousands of terms, or even more, that can be calculated without the slightest difficulty. Others put up more resistance. Here is one whose ninth term mathematicians have only just managed to calculate!
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Math for everyoneN°216Feb 19, 2024Navigating the mathematical universe
Did you know that a list covering almost every current area of mathematical research was created to help classify publications? It runs to more than two hundred pages! No wonder it is hard for general readers who are simply curious about mathematics to find their way around.
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Math for everyoneN°89Feb 19, 2024A genealogy of fractions
A beautiful construction due to Calkin and Wilf, foreshadowed a century earlier, provides an elegant and deep way to list all fractions. Beginning with 1 / 1, each fraction in this construction gives birth to two new ones.
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Math for everyoneN°89Feb 18, 2024When fractions fail
Fractions cannot do everything! The existence of irrational numbers forces us to accept that the concept of number extends beyond quotients of two integers. The reward is a new world to explore, full of surprises.
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