Popularization of mathematics

I play an active part in the diffusion of mathematics among a wide or scholar audience. I am managing part of this diffusion for the Fourier Institute:

• talks and activities in classes (secondary schools and high schools),
• scientific edition of the mathematical calendar,
• organisation and participation to the Fêtes de la Science and other scientific events for large audience,
• participation to the Grange des mathématiques,
• creating and collecting objects, which can be used for teaching mathematics,
• creating a short movie and a game (french, compatible with Firefox and Edge at least) on Fourier transform, and also a participation to a comics book on the life of Fourier.
• writing some articles.

Talks

As some of my colleagues, I present talks and activities for a scholar or wide audience. My main talks are:

• an introduction to the topology via the world of Pacman. The purpose is to understand which forms are obtained by gluing the edges of a square. The talk also includes participation of the audience (creation and cutting of the Moebius band, Euler caracteristic of a balloon...).
• a more or less technical talk about Joseph Fourier and the music. The main goals are to show how mathematics progress and why they are still alive and present in our lives. I explain Fourier transform via a small Python program and via several sounds. The talk may be more or less related to music, depending on the audience. This short movie (french) gives an idea of the spirit.
• activities on the Rubik's Cube and more particularly on a very simplified version of it. This leads to the notions of group, non-commutativity, inversion of sequences of operations, algebraic notations... Here, any conjecture can be checked by manipulations of the puzzle. This simplified version of the Rubik's Cube may also be used to talk about permutations and signatures. You can play online with the Javascript version.

Some related programs may be found below.

Mathematical objects

I am interested in the use of objects in mathematical teaching: manipulation, illustration and historical or more recent applications. I am collecting mathematical objects or I made it myself via a Fablab. Some of these objects are on display in the entrance of the Institute: a double pendulum, fractals, a Galton board, several paradoxal dices, slide rules, a planimeter, Klein bottles, a Gömböc...

Computer programs

These programs are used for teaching or diffusion of mathematics. I do not ensure that they run on any computer, I let you adapt the program yourself. The following ones are coded in Python:

• A javascript game on Fourier transform (french, created for Firefox and works on Edge).
• A software manipulating Fourier series in real time. The sound is only available on Windows due to the package winsound (lines to delete if this is not running well). This other program is an illustration of the approximation via Fourier series with the Batcurve
• A simulation of Rubik's Circles in Python and a similar one in Javascript. You can play online with the Javascript version. The concrete puzzle can be made with a laser cutting machine via the svg file.
• A software creating several fractal sets. I also wrote some codes in Scratch to draw fractals: Von Koch's snowflake and a fractal based on pentagons.
• A simulation of the Google surfer to introduce the PageRank algorithm.

Articles

I wrote some notes and online articles about miscellaneous mathematical subjects. They are in french, so if you are interested, look at the french version of this page.

Surfing

Home Research Teaching Popularization of Maths Cv Mountains

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External links

Fourier Institute

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