La asociación Club Tangente organiza desde hace ya diez años varios eventos, los Trofeos Tangente, que ponen de relieve la cultura matemática y la importancia de la interdisciplinariedad, en particular entre las matemáticas y la literatura. Numerosos colaboradores —asociaciones (APMEP, SMF, FFJM) y sitios web (CultureMath, Diophante)— apoyan estos Trofeos, sin olvidar el Musée des arts et métiers, que acoge, el primer domingo de diciembre, la «Jornada Tangente», durante la cual se entregan los Trofeos Tangente del año.
Así nació el premio Tangente del Libro, convertido en una institución, que distingue una obra publicada en los últimos dieciocho meses, «que despierta en un público amplio el deseo de saber más sobre uno o varios ámbitos de las matemáticas».
Cada año se publican numerosas obras de calidad —Tangente les dedica cerca de cien reseñas en sus números—, prueba de la riqueza y diversidad de la producción en el ámbito de la cultura matemática.
Premio Tangente del Libro
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Tras una votación de los internautas que permitirá establecer la lista de los «nominados» entre los libros que han sido objeto de una reseña en Tangente, un jurado independiente, entre cuyos miembros figura el ganador del año anterior, designará al galardonado con el premio Tangente del Libro.
Cada año, el ganador recibe una obra de arte matemático. ¡Otra forma de acercarse a nuestra magnífica disciplina desde la cultura! Y su editor gana una página de publicidad en Tangente.
Pero 2023 trae novedades. En primer lugar, para votar hay que ser miembro del Club Tangente o estar suscrito a Tangente. ¿Por qué? ¡Para evitar un posible «pucherazo»!
Otra novedad: podéis votar por dos de los libros preseleccionados.
Además, al haceros miembros del Club Tangente (no dudéis: la cuota es de 10 €, de los que el 60 % es deducible de vuestros impuestos), mostraréis vuestro apoyo a la divulgación de las matemáticas. Para haceros miembros, id a **Infinimath.com/librairie**, escribid «adhésion» en el campo de búsqueda y confirmad vuestro pedido.
Contamos, pues, con vosotros para haceros miembros (o suscribiros, lo que también da derecho a voto, aunque nada impide ser a la vez miembro y suscriptor) y votar por el que prefiráis entre los libros preseleccionados para el premio Tangente del Libro, cuya lista aparece más abajo.
Naturalmente, probablemente no habéis leído todos los libros preseleccionados. ¡Que eso no os detenga! Id al sitio web de Tangente, **tangente-mag.com**, y, en cada uno de los ocho últimos números, consultad las reseñas, a la derecha de la página. Allí encontraréis todas las de los libros preseleccionados.
El enlace para votar: www.tropheestangente.com/PT2023.php.
Fecha límite: 30 de septiembre de 2023.
PTL: the 2023 winners
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The Tangente Prize for high-school students is also an annual literary prize, but its winners are chosen by high-school students (nearly 900 voted in 2023)! Since it follows the school calendar, the results are already available.
The list of the ten books in contention for the 2022–2023 school year, together with the list of the 63 high schools that took part, is available at **tropheestangente.com/PTL2023.php**.
At participating schools, the prize provided an opportunity for debates, literary picnics, the creation of mathematical reading clubs, audio recordings, blogs, articles in the high-school newspaper or local press, and meetings with authors…
Tangente Prize for high-school students: students get involved!
The 2023 prize was awarded to La Petite Histoire des flocons de neige, by Étienne Ghys, published by Odile Jacob (2021). Two special mentions were awarded, one to Marie et Bronia, le pacte des sœurs, by Natacha Henry (Albin Michel, 2017), the other to Les Femmes de sciences vues par une ado un peu vénère, by Natacha Quentin and Julie Staboszevski (Poulpe Fictions, 2021).
But it is already time to look ahead to the 2023–2024 school year! High schools can now register. The Trophées website (tropheestangente.com/PTL2024.php) lists the books that high-school students will vote on, along with practical information about registration and the running of the prize. You may also wish to read the article on it in the latest issue of Tangente Éducation (no. 65).
What if you wrote in the style of Tangente?
The Trophées Tangente offer two further ways to express your mathematical creativity this summer. The first is to submit, by 30 September, “a text in the style of Tangente”. This is the Best Article Prize (PMA), established in 2014, which has enabled many jury-selected authors to showcase their writing talent and, in some cases, become regular contributors to our magazine. The first winner, Fabien Aoustin, has become an indispensable contributor to Tangente (he is also involved with the Tangente Prize for high-school students). But he is not alone! Christian Laforest, winner in 2015, Léo Gerville-Réache in 2016, Roger Mansuy in 2017, and Antoine Rolland in 2019 contribute regularly.
Articles submitted (one per author) must meet Tangente’s standards for length, level (accessible to all, except for the “boxes,” which may be more technical), wording (this is not a lesson), and style (lively)… The jury will select a winner and, if appropriate, award one or more special mentions according to the following criteria:
• originality and creativity in the choice of subject;
• quality of the writing and style;
• accessibility to the widest possible audience.
Consult the rules and submit your article before 30 September at:
As with all the Trophées Tangente, winners will receive a mathematical work of art created by one of Club Tangente’s partner artists: Denise Demaret-Pranville, Patrice Jeener, Scowcza, Sandrine Vivier-Souder… But another reward is just as motivating: seeing your article published in Tangente. So we encourage you all to apply!
Creating problems: the Affaire de Logique Prize
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Did you know that for twenty-five years now, an original problem has been set every week in the Affaire de Logique section of the “Science et Médecine” supplement of the newspaper Le Monde? Its authors, Gilles Cohen and Élisabeth Busser, joined a few years ago by Jean-Louis Legrand, are regular contributors to Tangente (Gilles Cohen is even its publishing director).
The success of this popular section led the Club Tangente team to challenge readers, beginning in 2022, to create original mathematical puzzles. This gave rise to the Affaire de logique Prize, whose first edition in 2022 was a great success. Dozens of entries were submitted, most of which the jury greatly appreciated. Given the quality of the problems, it had difficulty choosing among several submissions when awarding the prize.
The Affaire de logique Prize returns this year, and entrants may submit up to four puzzles. Each puzzle must be entered in one of the following five categories: Curiosities and paradoxes, Numerical challenges, Graphs and algorithms, Games on a figure, Logic.
The jury will judge entries on the wording and on an elegant, engaging, non-didactic presentation; the level, accessible to high-school students; and the ingenuity of the solution. “Aha!” moments in the style of Martin Gardner are welcome! Naturally, originality will be decisive for the jury.
In the photo below, 2022 winner Jean-Michel Le Claire is shown receiving a work of art for winning the 2022 Affaire de logique Prize with his puzzle “The Crypt of Coins”. The trophy was created by Pierre Schmitt and Dominique Owczarski, of the Scowcza collective of vector artists.
So we are counting on you to exercise your creativity and submit puzzle entries for this Trophy. The rules and the link for submitting entries are available at
So, do not hesitate: imagine an original problem and send it in!
We hope many of you will take part in these events. We invite everyone who can make the trip to the Musée des arts et métiers on Sunday 3 December 2023 for an exceptional day (talks, shows, exhibitions, workshops…), at which the 2023 Trophées Tangente will be awarded.
