Yvan Saint-Aubin - KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Département de mathématiques et de statistique
Université de Montréal, Canada

Essentially all computer algebra systems offer some graphic primitives or functions. So it is not surprising that some also offer the possibility of doing animations. With progress in software and some experience, the time cost of building animations has decreased to an acceptable level.

Animations have therefore the potential to become a common pedagogical tool for the first time in the history of mathematics. Obvious uses are the depiction of phenomena that evolve in time: the motion of a pendulum, the evolution of populations in a prey-predator model, etc. But animations can also be used to clarify mathematical ideas or constructions where time plays no role. I will present and discuss some animations of this latter type.