Famous figures
Portraits of famous mathematicians, historical and contemporary
A controversy over gears
What shape should gear teeth have to get the most out of gears? The question preoccupied 17th-century scholars so intensely that tempers sometimes flared. Philippe de La Hire and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz were two of the protagonists in this historic scientific dispute.
Newton's fluxions
With his theory of fluxions, Newton explained Kepler's laws describing planetary motion. Yet because it was less convenient to use than Leibniz's infinitesimal calculus, it ultimately held back research in Britain.
The geometry of measurement
The concept of measurement evolved over a long period, from concrete practice to abstraction, in a process initiated by Archimedes. This required mastering the concept of infinity.
Michel Serfati: a passion for the history of | Tangente
Mathematician, philosopher and historian of science, Michel Serfati, who died on September 30 last year, was all three.
Pierre Duchet: research in action | Tangente
Mathematician Pierre Duchet died on October 27 last year at his home in Mexico City. A friend of the editorial team at Tangente, this specialist in combinatorics, discrete mathematics and especially graph theory was always eager to share his work with younger generations.
The Klein bottle
The bottle named after Felix Klein is a classic of topology, yet its mathematical properties are still sometimes poorly understood. Let's delve beneath the surface to uncover its connection with the Möbius strip.
This is not a Möbius strip! | Tangente
Think you know everything about the Möbius strip, topology's quintessential object? Think again! Paper models of it have thickness, which undermines some of their properties. Let's explore these subtleties.
Breakthrough Prize awarded to Vincent Lafforgue | Tangente
French mathematician Vincent Lafforgue, brother of 2002 Fields Medalist Laurent Lafforgue, has won the 2019 Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics, worth $3 million, "for his fundamental and elegant contributions to the Langlands program in the function field case."
Tangente awards 2018
Ever since Napoleon's coronation in 1804, 2 December has been a day for coronations. Here are the many winners of Club Tangente's 2018 competitions and prizes, honoured at the Musée des Arts et Métiers.
The birth of artificial intelligence | Tangente
The conjecture that all cognitive functions can be described precisely enough to be reproduced on computers has never been proved or disproved. It forms the basis of artificial intelligence as a scientific discipline.
The Villani report on AI | Tangente
Last March, mathematician and member of parliament Cédric Villani oversaw the drafting of a report on artificial intelligence (AI), a kind of "roadmap" charting the field's current state and future.
Self-driving cars and the 17th problem... | Tangente
Classical 19th-century mathematics is now joining forces with the latest advances in computational mathematics! In practical terms, rational functions are being enlisted to enable the self-driving cars of the future to travel safely…
Rio Congress:
Algebraic geometry featured in the research of three of the four Fields medalists. Although the French took home no awards, they nevertheless played a prominent role. There was one disappointment, however: St Petersburg was chosen over Paris to host the next ICM, in 2022.
The techniques of the prodigious Terence Tao
Terence Tao is one of the greatest mathematicians of our time. He solves formidable mathematical problems himself. Nor does he hesitate to share his working methods on his widely read blog and offer advice that anyone can put to use.
Who will win the 2018 Fields Medal? ICM Rio | Tangente
The International Congress of Mathematicians, where numerous prizes are awarded, including the famous Fields Medals, is held every four years. This summer, it will take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from August 1 to 9.
Mickaël Launay wins D'Alembert Prize | Tangente
The awards are pouring in for Le Grand Roman des maths. The D'Alembert Prize, awarded by the French Mathematical Society, recognizes efforts to popularize mathematics.
Robert Langlands finally wins 2018 Abel Prize | Tangente
Like the Fields Medal (restricted to those under 40), the prestigious Abel Prize crowns a career in mathematical research, honoring one outstanding scientist every year since 2003.
Tim Gowers: Polymath, combinatorics, open science | Tangente
Sir William Timothy Gowers was born in England on 20 November 1963. A professor of mathematics at the University of Cambridge (Great Britain), he is one of today's leading mathematicians and has received several prestigious awards, including the Fields Medal in 1998.
Sluse's algorithm: a forerunner of differential calculus | Tangente
Sluse, a 17th-century Belgian mathematician, devised an algorithm for systematically calculating the slope of the tangent to an implicitly defined algebraic curve. His work was a crucial step towards the discoveries of Newton and Leibniz.
Pierre Samuel, the first scientifically minded environmentalist | Tangente
Pierre Samuel (1921–2009) was one of the greatest French mathematicians of the 20th century. He became deeply interested in environmental issues.