The 2018 winners
--------------------
After winning the Tangente Book Prize in 2017, Mickaël Launay's Le Grand Roman des maths (Flammarion, 2016) has now won the 2018 Tangente Prize for High School Students. Here is a reminder of how the prize works: during the school year, participating schools are given a selection of ten books about mathematics. The students—at least ten from each school—read them and then choose their favorite. The results from across France are combined to determine the winner.
The only requirements for participating schools are to organize the reading and hold the voting in two stages: the first, in February, determines two finalist books, from which the students select a winner in the second stage, held in May.
Two honorable mentions were also awarded to:
by Gillermo Martinez
(Robert Laffont, 2008)
and
La Formule préférée du professeur
by Yoko Ogawa (Acte Sud, 2008).
Meeting François-Henri Désérable
---------------------------------------
The Tangente Prize for High School Students is organized fairly flexibly, lending itself to a wide variety of activities involving mathematics and literature. Book clubs, literary lunches, debates, meetings with authors, contributions to the local press and writing reviews are just some of the events organized by the teaching staff.
At Lycée Condorcet in Saint-Quentin (Aisne), for example, François-Henri Désérable came to discuss the writing of his novel Évariste (Gallimard, 2014). The students asked about the life of Évariste Galois, whom the author brought vividly to life in a few sentences and poignant anecdotes; how he came to choose this subject, despite having no scientific background; and his own career and work as a writer.
The meeting was followed by a talk by Norbert Verdier, a historian of science, who offered a mathematical perspective on Galois's work—the work of the “Rimbaud of mathematics.” The talk left the audience wanting to learn more, especially those who had not yet read the novel.
*Norbert Verdier (on the left)
and
François-Henri Désérable.*
Registration for the 2019 prize is now open!
---------------------------------------------------------
The prize's primary aim is to bring books about mathematics into school libraries. The diversity of the selection showcases the many facets of mathematics. The initiative is intended to give humanities students an opportunity to discover mathematics from a different angle, while allowing science students to experience the pleasure of reading.
More information at **www.tropheestangente.com/PTL2019.php.**
The books selected for the 2019 prize are:
Anne Boyé and Christine Charretton, Éditions Jacques André, 2017.
• Petite philosophie des mathématiques vagabondes.
Luc de Brabandère, Eyrolles, 2011.
• Voyage en géométrie.
Jean-Louis Brahem, Le pommier, 2017.
• Toute résistance serait futile.
Jenny Colgan, Bragelonne, 2016.
• La splendeur.
Régine Detambel, Acte Sud, 2014.
• La suite de Skolem (tome 1) (and volume 2)
Jean-François Kierzkowski, Pirate(s), 2017.
• La théorie des jeux en images.
Ivan and Tuvana Pastine, EDP Science, 2018
• Petites énigmes mathématiques et logiques.
Ian Stewart, J’ai lu, 2016.
• Les refus de Grigori Perelman.
Philippe Zaouati, Pippa, 2017.
• Fibonacci.
Various authors, ACL-Éditions du Kangourou, 2016.
