Math for everyone
Mathematical content accessible to everyone
CNRS operational research group | Tangente
In France, research laboratories are often large—sometimes employing several hundred researchers—and span several disciplines. GDRs coordinate research in a particular discipline across laboratories, allowing researchers to exchange ideas directly with other specialists in their field, all of whom are brought together within the GDR.
ROADEF, a learned society for operational research | Tangente
Since its founding in 1998, ROADEF has played an important role in operational research in France.
Operational research in France: a history | Tangente
Operational research (OR) seems to have emerged in the US military, first in radar development and then in inventory management during the First World War.
The Bernard-Novelli prize: Mathematical news brief | Tangente
Another Tangente Trophy will be awarded this year: the Bernard-Novelli Prize. Run for several years with CASIO’s support, it recognizes a middle- or high-school student—working alone or in a group—who has written a computer program based on a mathematical game.
The 2020 Tangente High School Students' Prize: Enigma wins | Tangente
The sixth edition of the Tangente High School Students' Prize (PTL) took place this year. Despite the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, several schools still managed to see it through to the end!
Measuring without a standard: the challenge | Tangente
It is easy to measure the distance between two points in the plane using a ruler, or to weigh something using scales. Measuring areas or volumes requires a command of integral calculus. But what about concepts for which comparison with a standard is difficult, such as happiness?
Units of measurement: the history of the SI | Tangente
Metrology is the science of measurement. Measuring means comparing a quantity with a standard. This requires a system of units. Several such systems have emerged over the course of history, evolving as scientific knowledge advanced.
Game theory: Von Neumann | Tangente
Toward the end of the Second World War, the celebrated mathematician John von Neumann and the economist Oskar Morgenstern broke new ground by providing a mathematical foundation for the strategic behavior of players and economic agents.
How Archimedes squared his spiral
Archimedes is admired for his great discoveries. Less well known is how his proofs unfolded. Without effective mathematical notation, reasoning was fraught with difficulty and demanded considerable ingenuity…
The 100 km rule explained | Tangente
To prevent the virus from surging again as lockdown restrictions were lifted, people could travel only within a hundred-kilometre radius of their home or within their own department. This was far from fair to everyone! Who were the lucky ones?
Numbers and measurement
Numbers and measurement have followed parallel paths throughout history. While it is easy to assign a number to a length or volume, this becomes more difficult for properties that are not linear, such as temperature or the acidity of a solution.
Mathematical models and measurement | Tangente
When direct measurements are impossible, we must rely on mathematical models, which need to be validated. The results then depend on the precision of the available direct measurements and on how well suited the chosen model is.
Elections: the PLM Act explained | Tangente
Do Parisian voters know that they are choosing the members of three different assemblies? Do they understand how the lucky winners are selected once the votes have been counted? In Marseille and Lyon too, the winner is not necessarily the candidate who received the most votes!
Radical-X: combinatorics in play | Tangente
Radical X is a compact game packaged in a rectangular box with edges measuring less than 5 cm.
Games as a source of inspiration
Games were an inexhaustible source of inspiration for Conway—both studying the classics and creating new puzzles.
Tilings: Conway's criterion | Tangente
You have probably heard of tilings, but do you know this simple criterion for determining whether a polygon can tile the plane?
Conway's sequences and conjectures | Tangente
Conway loved playing with number sequences. His explorations led him to formulate conjectures that are elementary to state but formidable to tackle.
Reference books on Conway | Tangente
Guided by his passions and discoveries, John Conway wrote many fascinating books, regrettably few of which have been translated.
Viète's new algebra | Tangente
François Viète ranks among those scholars celebrated for their considerable contribution to mathematics. He did not invent algebra, but his work propelled the discipline forward spectacularly.
Wonders of Conway's Game of Life | Tangente
One of John Conway's best-known creations is the Game of Life, which he devised in 1970. It is a particular kind of cellular automaton, made up of virtual beings that develop in the cells of a regular grid, living, dying and being born according to predetermined rules.