Maths for everyone
Articles at an accessible level on varied mathematical topics
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.
The story of a geometry unlike any other
A science that is hard to define in a few words, topology has found its way into geometry, analysis and even algebra. How did it emerge in the mathematical world? Where is it useful? And above all, what is topology? Let's look back at the birth of a new way of seeing our space…
Untangling the mysteries of rubbery deformations
The metric properties of modelling-clay objects change when they are deformed. Other properties, known as topological properties, remain unchanged. Surprisingly, algebra enters the picture. This naturally leads us to consider knots and the constituent molecules of DNA.
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."
180 seconds of popular science | Tangente
Three minutes flat is not long to sum up a thesis—especially when the presentation has to be accessible to a wide audience. That is the daunting challenge faced each year by a number of French-speaking doctoral students in "My Thesis in 180 Seconds," modelled on the English-language Three Minute Thesis competition.
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.
Ancient mathematics: an introduction | Tangente
The July issue of Cahiers de Science & Vie highlights the history of mathematics and the various places where it developed.
Maths exposes a Lotto advertising scam | Tangente
The Belgian National Lottery has just changed its prize rules. New winning combinations have been introduced for Lotto (with two "t"s), offering new (small) prizes.
Con your friends with maths and logic | Tangente
discover how mathematics can help you outwit con artists
Maths for the taxman | Tangente
Algorithms are used to cross-reference data from several sources and assess the plausibility of a tax return.
Scams, fraud, hoaxes, deception… and mathematics
Archimedes’ example shows that mathematics was once used to expose fraudsters’ tricks. Is that still often the case today? More often than not, no.
An innovative new kind of calculator | Tangente
The French company Numworks has joined the select club of calculator manufacturers. This new machine is based on open-source principles.
Calculators in entrance exams: end of an era | Tangente
For several years now, some written papers in the competitive entrance examinations for France's engineering grandes écoles have prohibited calculators. But this was not a blanket rule.
Learn to calculate with a calculator | Tangente
Machines generally calculate faster than people. But exactly how does a machine perform a simple addition? Revisiting the methods taught to children reveals two main techniques, which we can compare using CASIO's Graph 90+E calculator.
Fast calculation with the Trachtenberg method | Tangente
You may have heard of the "Trachtenberg method" in the recently released film Mary. It is an iterative method for performing impressive mental calculations with large numbers.
The mechanics of calculation
To calculate faster and more accurately, humans created devices as ingenious as they were varied! It can be hard to imagine that, only a few centuries ago, machines were expensive and cumbersome. Sophisticated calculations were therefore the preserve of an elite.
Geometric “tricks” for arithmetic
The human mind often needs concrete representations of abstract concepts. Geometry can thus serve as an aid to calculation, as Descartes was among the first to show.
The Archimedean hairspring at the heart of watchmaking
Once again, we turn to a "spiral"—not in a field or on a canvas, but… inside a watch.
Kinetic art and geometry: Vasarely, Le Parc, Morellet
The last time Argentine sculptor and painter Julio Le Parc exhibited in New York was in 1973. The artist has just brought a successful exhibition in Paris to a close at the Perrotin gallery in the 3rd arrondissement. In the meantime, kinetic art had faded from view.
The ruler: history of a measuring instrument
Let's rediscover this object we think we know...