Fabrice Arnaud
10 articles published in Tangente
N°229Apr 22, 2026Google: an almost accidental choice
In 1996, when they launched the famous search engine, Sergey Brin and Larry Page called it BackRub internally, a reference to its ability to identify and index even the most deeply hidden links (backlinks).
Read →
History and CultureN°229Apr 22, 2026Edward Kasner: the origin of the googol and googolplex
Staggeringly large numbers invented by an eccentric mathematician that would inspire an iconic domain name...
Read →
KnowledgeN°229Apr 22, 2026Trillions, zillions and myriads: the dizzying world of large numbers
From colossal fortunes to the limits of mathematical language, words struggle to keep pace as numbers explode. From long and short scales, through international conventions, to mathematicians' bold inventions, the way we name extremely large quantities tells a story in which language, science and imagination meet.
Read →
Math for everyoneN°227Dec 16, 2025When the devil drops in
From the biblical 666 to the Belphegor number, certain numbers send a shiver down the spine… and bring a smile to mathematicians' faces. Behind these "cursed" objects, the creativity and ingenuity of recreational mathematics run wild, ranging from number games to diabolical curiosities.
Read →
History and CultureN°227Dec 12, 2025A revolutionary medal… for the Iranian revolution
On August 13, 2014, Hassan Rouhani, president of the Islamic Republic of Iran from 2013 to 2021, congratulated Maryam Mirzakhani on Twitter on winning the Fields Medal, along with two photographs: one showing her wearing a hijab, the other showing her bareheaded.
Read →
History and CultureN°227Dec 12, 2025The Maryam Mirzakhani prizes
The first woman and the first Iranian to receive the Fields Medal, Maryam Mirzakhani broke a historic barrier. Her visual approach turned mathematical problems into veritable landscapes. Today, numerous prizes bear her name to encourage young women pursuing research.
Read →
Math for everyoneN°227Dec 12, 2025A mathematician who thought in pictures
Even before her research career began, Maryam Mirzakhani started filling small notebooks with drawings of imaginary surfaces resembling fantastical worlds. Some of these sketches, which she found "simply beautiful," inspired several of her works in topology.
Read →
Math for everyoneN°227Dec 12, 2025From Tehran to Stanford: an extraordinary journey
A brilliant, passionate young woman, Maryam Mirzakhani turned her curiosity into an exceptional scientific career. Her optimistic outlook and perseverance changed the place of women in a field long dominated by men. Her life, brief but luminous, continues to inspire.
Read →
Math for everyoneN°225Aug 18, 2025Flexible in three dimensions
The flexacube and a more sophisticated form, the Yoshimoto cube, are three-dimensional versions of flexagons. Beyond their construction, these astonishing objects raise questions about the flexibility of polyhedra and formalize that question: under what condition does a solid remain rigid?
Read →
Math for everyoneN°94May 13, 2025A happy ending
Behind this phrase lies a famous mathematical challenge that brought together two brilliant minds on a quest to uncover the hidden order within chaos. It was the birth of a beautiful love story — and of a new branch of mathematics!
Read →