ROGER MANSUY
16 articles published in Tangente
N°97Feb 11, 2026The struggle for acceptance of women mathematicians at Cambridge
At Cambridge, women students such as Sarah Woodhead, Charlotte Angas Scott and Philippa Fawcett could sit mathematics examinations unofficially, yet despite their brilliant results, they were not awarded degrees. The resounding vote of 1897 even confirmed that they would remain barred from receiving them.
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N°97Feb 11, 2026The first women to pass the agrégation in mathematics
Camille Sée's Law of 21 December 1880 on secondary education for girls created a need for women teachers. Although Liouba Bortniker could have taken the women's mathematics agrégation, in 1885 she passed the standard agrégation instead.
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History and CultureN°225Aug 19, 2025Peano by his great-niece
Alongside official biographies, family accounts offer other glimpses into figures known mainly through their work. Lalla Romano, the celebrated Italian author, bears witness to her intellectual closeness with her great-uncle, Giuseppe Peano.
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Math for everyoneN°94May 13, 2025Walks in the divisor graph
Among Paul Erdős's interests, two fields stand out more often than others: number theory and graph theory. It is therefore no surprise that he eventually became interested in the divisor graph, a mathematical object that lies precisely at the crossroads of these two subjects.
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Math for everyoneN°94May 13, 2025Probabilities where you wouldn't expect them!
The probabilistic method, which Paul Erdős introduced and used, makes it possible to prove the existence of a mathematical object. Despite the use of probability, what is remarkable — and all the more surprising — is that the result obtained is certain!
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Math for everyoneN°94May 12, 2025So many distances!
Here are two problems about distances that interested Paul Erdős. The first studies the distances defined by n points. The second looks for sets of points that define only integer distances.
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Math for everyoneN°221Dec 18, 2024Curious stories of mathematics
For almost a year, Noëlle Krajcman has been running a TikTok and Instagram channel devoted to mathematical anecdotes.
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History and CultureN°218Jun 13, 2024The new Fourier has arrived!
The mathematician Joseph Fourier is buried in Père-Lachaise Cemetery (Division 18, near the Casimir-Perrier roundabout) in Paris. His tomb, decorated with Egyptian motifs, was restored in 2023 by the City of Paris at the request of the Society of Friends of Joseph Fourier.
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Math for everyoneN°217Apr 10, 2024Did you say “Myriogon”?
Myriogon is a YouTube channel run by a team of mathematics communicators: Stephen Barcelo, Chloé Bouchaour, Robin Jamet, Mickael Launay and Roger Mansuy
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History and CultureN°214Oct 16, 2023Dust in the corners
The beauty of fractal curves fascinates amateurs and seasoned mathematicians alike. The latter, however, know that these objects also give rise to subtle problems in measure theory. Here we illustrate an apparently paradoxical situation and a delicate theorem.
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Math for everyoneN°213Aug 28, 2023Marie Crous's two books digitized
And soon Marie Crous, a pioneer of decimal arithmetic in France, will no longer be forgotten!
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History and CultureN°212Jun 28, 2023Charlotte Angas Scott,
A pioneer of algebraic geometry and a specialist in curves and surfaces, British mathematician Charlotte Angas Scott was forced to move to the United States to find an academic post. Her chief claim to fame is an elegant proof she devised for a difficult theorem by Max Noether.
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