Video of the discussion on the book “Enigmes Mathématiques au temps de Charlemagne” now online

14 Oct 2021

If you did not get the chance earlier this week to attend the streamed discussion on the book “Enigmes Mathématiques au temps de Charlemagne” published by EPFL Press, the video of the discussion is currently online.

Through this book for the general public, UNIGE’s Maison de l’hisoire and the bookstore PAYOT, take us on an exciting journey back in time accompanied by mathematical riddles and problems which to date still fascinate mathematicians.

There are many good lessons that can be taken from the book and applied today, as our Outreach Officer Shaula Fiorelli pointed during the discussion:

“Going back in time helps to keep humble about what we now know as well as to appreciate the ground we have covered and how far we’ve gotten in mathematics.

I was captivated by the importance mathematics had in those times, Charlemagne had in fact appointed a group of scientist who were in charge of instructing younger generations. What is particularly interesting is that it did not just stop at the transmission of knowledge, but went further and also incorporated a philosophical element. The anonymous Propositiones ad acuendos juvenes was there in fact, to guide them in facing and dealing with everyday life. I believe it is important for science to reincorporate this approach again and to ask itself how and at what point it was lost.

Through the riddles and problems covered, the book also reminds us that there is a more playful and captivating approach to maths which has equally been lost. There are indeed many different types of very interesting mathematical questions which can be used to lead us to develop similar techniques and reasoning than those learnt at school, but just presented form a different angle.

Imagination and creativity are fundamental in mathematics, although they are often forgotten behind the more commonly associated rules and calculations. This is why at Mathscope we try to work with appealing problems and to show that mathematics is not only what we learn at school. Presenting problems differently can have an enormous impact on the level of a pupil’s interest and eagerness to go further.”

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