Colloquium d’Informatique de Sorbonne Université
Martin Golumbic, University of Haifa, Israel

Tuesday, June 8, 2021 18:00
Sorbonne University - Faculté des Sciences

Tracing the Topics in Les Réseaux (ou Graphes): An Annotated Translation with Commentaries

Martin Golumbic is an algorithmic graph theorist, mathematician, and Emeritus Professor of Computer Science at the University of Haifa, Israel. A native of the USA, Professor Golumbic received his Ph.D. in mathematics from Columbia University in 1975 under the direction of Samuel Eilenberg (a non-French Bourbaki). He was a postdoctoral fellow in Paris with Claude Berge in 1976-77, and has maintained strong academic ties with colleagues from Paris, Montpellier, Clermont-Ferrand, Orsay, and Grenoble for over 40 years. Martin Golumbic is the author of "Algorithmic Graph Theory and Perfect Graphs", coauthor of "Tolerance Graphs" with Ann Trenk, and editor of several books including "Topics in Algorithmic Graph Theory" with Lowell W. Beineke and Robin J. Wilson. He is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the journal Annals of Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence, and is a member of several journal editorial boards. In 1995, he was elected as a Foundation Fellow of the Institute of Combinatorics and its Applications, has been a Fellow of the European Artificial Intelligence Society EurAI since 2005, and was elected to the Academia Europaea, honoris causa, in 2013.

Abstract

In 1926, André Sainte-Laguë published a 65-page monograph entitled Les Réseaux (ou Graphes) which Harald Gropp has referred to as the 'zeroth' book on graph theory. It provides an historical snapshot to the research in graph theory conducted at that time. Many concepts were still in their infancy, yet others highly developed offering a wealth of mathematical challenges. Sainte-Laguë also prophetically understood that applications would play a future role in the development of the discipline. This lecture formally launches The Zeroth Book of Graph Theory: An Annotated Translation of Les Réseaux (ou Graphes) - André Sainte-Laguë (1926). Going beyond the understanding, dissecting, and converting concepts and terminology written a century ago, I will trace some of the topics as they have evolved, especially as influenced by computing and informatics, including my own work in algorithmic graph theory. We conclude with a glimpse into the fascinating mathematical and non-mathematical career of André Sainte-Laguë. From his 1910 method of parliamentary seat allocation, to his experiences in World War I - from his work on the aerodynamics of birds, gliders, and planes, to the organization of the mathematics rooms in the Palais de la Découverte at the 1937 Paris Exposition - from his resistance against the Nazi forces in occupied France, to his lifelong leadership in social and labor activism. He was a man of many dimensions - researcher, teacher, humanitarian and outstanding science communicator with a multifaceted legacy.