Institut Henri Poincaré

Just after World War I, mathematicians Émile Borel in France and George Birkhoff in the United States persuaded French and American sponsors (Edmond de Rothschild and the Rockefeller Foundation respectively)[1] to fund the building of a centre for lectures and international exchanges in mathematics and theoretical physics.

Together with the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques (IHES), the Centre International de Rencontres Mathématiques (CIRM) and the Centre International de Mathématiques Pures et Appliquées (CIMPA) it is a member of the Carmin LabEx (Laboratory of Excellence), which aims at facilitating exchanges between mathematicians by building infrastructures for pooling skills and information.

The Institute co-organises and sponsors numerous, scientific and cultural events aimed at the general public (2011: Mathematics, a Beautiful Elsewhere at the Fondation Cartier; 2011: A tribute to Evariste Galois; 2012: Centenary of Henri Poincaré's Death...).

The library of the Henri Poincaré Institute holds a collection of some 400 mathematical models and designs that come in different materials: glass, plastic, cardboard, wire, sewing thread on a rigid frame, and plaster.

This collection, which started with a donation by Martin Shilling, has been enhanced over the years, notably by wooden models built between 1912 and 1914 by lecturer Joseph Caron of the École Normale Supérieure.