André Sainte-Laguë

Who was André Sainte-Laguë?

André Sainte-Laguë was a French mathematician who was a pioneer in the area of graph theory. His research on seat allocation methods led to one being named after him, the Sainte-Laguë method. Also named after him is the Sainte-Laguë Index for measuring the proportionality of an electoral outcome.

He is notable for his informal calculation demonstrating that a bumblebee could not fly, referred to in the introduction of 'Le Vol des Insectes' by the entomologist Antoine Magnan. This casual calculation was based on a comparison between an aeroplane and a bee, and assumed that bees' wings were smooth and flat. He, and others, soon corrected this assumption but the story of the scientist who demonstrated that bee flight was impossible persists to this day.

He published several popular math texts, including "From the known to the unknown" which has been translated into several languages.