Beach Mathematics
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Mathematics at the Beach
Observe the pattern drawn, depending on the time, by the shadow of the parasol on the small wall at the edge of the beach. Try to predict the shape adopted by a pile of sand whose base rests on sinuous contours. Contemplate the movement of the waves or the undulation of the dunes and understand the analogy between these wonders of nature and the equations that govern them. In a word, sunbathe intelligently. That's what Tangente offers its readers this summer.
Omnipresent polynomials
Algebra, analysis: the double nature of polynomials makes them essential. In algebra, they act a bit like numbers; we can add them, multiply them, divide them, factor them... In analysis, they metamorphose into functions. Their simplicity and flexibility allow them to facilitate the notion of integration and to approximate other, more complex functions, with a fascinating property: their ability to "hug" the graph of any differentiable function on an interval. And polynomials haven't had their last word! They still hold many surprises for anyone who ventures into their study.
All articles in this issue
At last, a plaque in memory of Galois!
Passersby on the rue des Bernardins will now be able to pause and wonder at this plaque, which was missing from the capital.
2017, a year neither blank nor double
To file or check your taxes, it helps to know how to calculate (a little)
André Warusfel: popularizer and educator
André Warusfel, who passed away on 6 June 2016 at the age of 80, was active across every facet of mathematics over the course of his fifty-year career.
The Baccalauréat and Maths
Following on from Tangente 170 and its feature "Should We Abolish the Baccalauréat?" Robert Cabane, dean of the Inspection générale de mathématiques, sent us some interesting comments.
The inexhaustible prime number theorem
Prime numbers are an endless source of mathematical surprises: they are infinite in number yet rare, and attempts to count them bring transcendental functions into play, such as the Riemann zeta function, which at first glance seem far removed from arithmetic.
Fascinating prime numbers
A look at the latest theorems about prime numbers, which continue to inspire just as much as ever.
François Morellet, geometry staged
How many times, in these pages, have we mentioned the works of François Morellet, this artist possessed by geometry...
Celebrating mathematical literature
As has become tradition, Tangente readers are invited to vote from July until the end of September to select the nominees for the Tangente Book Prize, from whom the jury will choose the 2016 winner. The inaugural Tangente High School Students' Prize will be announced at the same time.
The chocolate equation
Coating roasted hazelnuts, almonds, candies, sugar Easter hares or other tempting shells in chocolate is generally no trouble at all for chocolatiers.
Crocodile tears
So many tears shed in Scotland over this famous crocodile problem!
Have you heard of Yakazu?
There are dozens of number-grid puzzles, often hugely popular. Yakazu, created in 2015 by hobbyist Patrick Tirone, is perhaps a little less so.
The stability of the Solar System
Jürgen Moser belongs to the long line of mathematicians who have tackled the problem of the Solar System's stability. He is the "M" in the KAM theorem's trinity—Kolmogorov, Arnold and Moser—which links number theory and celestial mechanics.
Cancer: maths to beat the disease
"At a time when medicine can join forces with mathematics to predict how a cancer develops, it is high time we rethought our prejudices about maths — and, while we're at it, about women mathematicians…"
This polyhedron is dangerous
Behind this polyhedron, a virus
A practical protractor at last!
What could be more commonplace in geometry than a protractor?