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Fertile errors
Mathematics is the discipline where errors are most feared and stigmatized. And yet, Fermat was able to make a mistake in a division and deduce a false theorem! Euler, with somewhat shaky reasoning, opened the way to a revolution in arithmetic. Legendre believed he had proved Euclid's fifth postulate by using circular reasoning. These errors, and some others that you will discover, nevertheless had a very positive impact on the history of mathematics: they were the driving force behind many works whose developments continue to fuel scientific thought.
The parabola, mirror of the world
With the ellipse and the hyperbola, the parabola is the third non-circular conic section. One might think that its properties are rather banal given that its algebraic equation is one of the simplest. Its definition, too, is elementary: a point and a line are all that is needed to draw it. Yet, it opens up surprising possibilities, whether it's its construction which can prove to be very playful and educational, its tangents which contain many gems, its quadrature which allows for subtle reasoning, not to mention all the theorems related to it or all the applications it generates. Welcome to a universe where a simple curve becomes mirror of the world!
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Roger Mansuy's mathematical almanac
On the occasion of the publication of his Grand almanach mathématique (The Grand Mathematical Almanac), Roger Mansuy opens up to Tangente about the secrets of this book like no other, in which readers discover, among others, many unjustly forgotten figures.
Saint-Simon's dream of a mathematized politics
In 1820, Saint-Simon proposed a complete reorganization of political life in which he imagined handing power to mathematics. Although his project was never implemented, it directly influenced the emergence of technocracy and our conception of expertise in politics.
Making art with the Conway knot
An artist passionate about mathematics, Michel Delaunay creates works that plunge the eye into the infinity of geometric and topological aesthetics. He notably combines the potentialities of the cube with those of the Conway knot.
Three cheers for France!
The international final of the Mathematical and Logic Games Championship was held on August 23 and 24. This year, it took place in Mahdia, Tunisia.
New geometric volumes revolutionize physics
In a recent study published in the Notices of the American Mathematical Society, mathematicians Claudia Fevola (Inria Saclay) and Anna-Laura Sattelberger (Max Planck Institute in Leipzig) explore the emerging field of positive geometry to propose a novel bridge between particle physics and cosmology.
The return of Hex
Hex is a two-player game played with black and white pieces on a diamond-shaped board tiled with hexagons. The first player to connect their two opposing sides with their pieces wins.