Maths for everyone
Articles at an accessible level on varied mathematical topics
Sam Loyd: a puzzle-making mathematician in 15 minutes
Fifteen minutes to retrace the key moments in a mathematician's career: that was the challenge set—twice during the day—for the outstanding speakers in the conference room at Tangente's 30th-anniversary celebration (times in parentheses).
Tangente's 30th anniversary program | Tangente Magazine
Here is the programme (which will be updated regularly) for Tangente's 30th anniversary celebrations at the Musée des arts et métiers on Sunday, December 3, 2017. Admission is free for everyone!
Approximately π
We can play with areas to calculate π, but we can also start with π and choose areas accordingly. For a change from Archimedes' famous method of exhaustion, we can revive a historical approach probably devised by the Egyptians... Can you do better?
No doubt about it | Tangente Magazine
We were used to highly faceted origami figures with clearly visible folds. Now a group of Austrian researchers has given these forms much smoother contours.
Malevitch: Geometry at the heart of Suprematism
A hundred years ago, the artist Kasimir Severinovitch Malevitch (1878–1935) was appointed commissioner for the preservation of buildings and the arts
The gravity equation
For once, an economist is talking about an "equation"—which makes it worth a closer look
2018 Championship
The 32nd Mathematical and Logical Games Championship, organized by the Fédération française des jeux mathématiques, is under way. Tangente brings you an exclusive look at the eighteen problems from the individual quarterfinals.
Georges Méliès: special effects, anamorphosis and maths
Georges Méliès is often described as the creator of cinematic spectacle, while the Lumière brothers are the inventors of the cinematograph. In fact, Méliès was passionate about technology. He found solutions to problems that can readily be expressed in mathematical terms.
Holiday geometry | Tangente Magazine
The holidays are also a chance to uncover the mathematics all around us
Raymond Smullyan (1919–2017): logician and magician
An eclectic mathematician, Raymond Smullyan, who died last June, was best known to the general public for his books of mathematical recreations centered on logic.
Logarithms: A whole vocabulary
Logarithmic derivative, logarithmic spiral, logarithmic scales... and a raccoon.
John Napier's astonishing inventions
John Napier of Merchiston, the Scottish gentleman whose death four centuries ago is being commemorated this year, was no revolutionary. Yet his wondrous invention of logarithms made him one, opening up a new world for mathematics far beyond computation.
Poincaré, geometry and robotics | Tangente
Mathematics, and geometry in particular, is an essential component of that most technical of fields: robotics. The concept of space, which the mathematician Henri Poincaré (1854–1912) explored in depth, lies at the heart of the robotics engineer's work.
Numbers in a triangle: math puzzles to explore
The arrangement of numbers in Pascal's triangle obviously lends itself to play, and many mathematical recreations refer to it.
Journey into the heart of a mathematical classic
If you know how to fill in Pascal's triangle, you may be less aware of the treasures it contains. Arithmetic, geometric, combinatorial: it has no shortage of astonishing mathematical properties! And there are undoubtedly many more still to be discovered…
Perpendicular bisectors, angle bisectors & beyond | Tangente
Equidistance is introduced very early in geometry. Perpendicular and angle bisectors are the simplest examples. Let us go further and consider points equidistant from a line and a circle, from two circles, or even from two more general curves. How far can we take this?
Caustics: curves of light and geometry | Tangente
In optics, the caustic of a curve is the envelope of the light rays emanating from the sun or another source. One appears in your breakfast cup every morning, illuminated by your kitchen or conservatory lights…
Curva ex machina: mechanisms and curves | Tangente
Do you know Kempe's universality theorem? This 19th-century result states that any algebraic curve can be drawn by a linkage. Today, computers and robotics have replaced the ingenious mechanisms devised by scientists of the past.
Finding geometric loci: methods | Tangente
Geometric loci: the term has a whiff of grandfather's geometry about it. Nowadays we'd talk about the set of points satisfying a given property. The old terminology gives the problem a more spatial, physical feel. How have the mathematical tools for studying loci evolved?
The semantics of droite | Tangente
A good droite is not necessarily mathematical: you find it in politics just as in boxing…