Math for everyone
Mathematical content accessible to everyone
Conway and group theory | Tangente
Conway developed a passion for groups—and sporadic groups in particular—at an early age.
Real-time mathematical modelling | Tangente
The current pandemic reminds us that mathematical models are built up in stages, from scientific assumptions and the available data. They are not objects in the real world, but abstractions. Their reliability can be established only by comparing them with reality.
Covid-19: mathematics to the rescue
What can epidemiological models contribute during a pandemic such as Covid-19? Can they justify measures that are difficult for the public by quantifying and explaining their direct effects on the spread of the disease?
The birth of epidemiology | Tangente
For more than three centuries, major pandemics have prompted statisticians to quantify mortality data and produce death forecasts. How has this helped reduce the impact of such disasters?
Epidemiological statistics | Tangente
Despite what its name suggests, epidemiology is a broad discipline. Its scope now extends beyond the study of infectious diseases to encompass all human diseases and disorders, whether chronic, genetic, environmental or behavioral, as well as accidents.
Covid: an equation with too many unknowns | Tangente
The Covid-19 pandemic took the world by surprise, both through its virulence and the speed of its spread. A wealth of statistics, sometimes contradictory, has been published. Governments have introduced measures that often differ from one country to another. A range of medical treatments is being used. Can mathematics help us make the right decisions?
How to inform yourself intelligently about Covid | Tangente
Several web pages provide an overview of the available scientific information on the current epidemic.
Robert protocol and COVID-19 tracing | Tangente
The problem posed by asymptomatic people, who are the most likely to transmit the virus, is a major challenge in the fight to curb the epidemic.
Coronavirus Polymath project | Tangente
The mathematical community is joining the fight against the pandemic.
The 93: Covid hotspot or bad math? | Tangente
A figure published by the Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques (Insee) and picked up by the media painted a catastrophic picture of public health in Seine-Saint-Denis (93).
Essential mathematics references | Tangente
The Mathcurve website is essential reading for anyone interested in curves. Several major authors are also closely associated with the subject.
Drawing machines: building mathematical curves | Tangente
Viewed as geometric loci, curves have always been drawn on a physical surface using instruments—or even machines. The mechanical linkages devised for this purpose can faithfully reproduce the curve under study.
Graceful roulettes: epicycloids and cycloids | Tangente
Drawing paper, tracing paper, colored pencils, a little curiosity and some practical ingenuity... You now have everything you need to explore roulettes and rediscover a now-forgotten classic of dynamic geometry: plane-on-plane motion.
Wheels and roads to match
Surprisingly, wheel and road profiles can be tailored so that the wheel’s axle remains at a constant height, ensuring maximum comfort for the traveller.
Triangle cubics
Beyond the centroid, the orthocenter and the centers of the two circles familiar from school geometry, thousands of points can be associated with the three vertices of a triangle. These myriad points lie on hundreds of cubics with remarkable properties.
Welcome to the world of virettes: Lissajous curves | Tangente
Marcel Guery explores the artistic potential of Lissajous curves
Parabolas and catenaries
The parabola and the catenary are two grand dames of geometry, both with the same open U-shape. The first was studied by the Greeks 2,500 years ago; the second, "only" 330 years ago, by 17th-century mathematicians.
Curves that go beyond the compass
Even when some "natural" problems prove impossible to solve, mathematicians have found ways around them, producing approximations of varying accuracy. To do so, they have sometimes had to draw on a host of geometric tricks and devise ingenious mechanisms.
Deflecting an asteroid with mathematics | Tangente
An international team is tasked with studying the possibility of deflecting the trajectories of asteroids if there is a risk of collision with Earth.
Improving the 200 m record with maths | Tangente
What if speed records could be improved by changing the shape of athletics tracks?