Blaise Pascal - Philosophy of mathematics

Blaise Pascal (June 19, 1623–August 19, 1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, and religious philosopher. Pascal was a child prodigy, who was educated by his father. Pascal's earliest work was in the natural and applied sciences, where he made important contributions to the construction of mechanical calculators and the study of fluids, and clarified the concepts of pressure and vacuum by expanding the work of Evangelista Torricelli. Pascal also w ...

Including:

• Blaise Pascal - Early life and education
• Blaise Pascal - Contributions to mathematics
• Blaise Pascal - Philosophy of mathematics
• Blaise Pascal - Contributions to the physical sciences
• Blaise Pascal - Mature life religion philosophy and literature
• Blaise Pascal - Religious conversion
• Blaise Pascal - Upon brink of death
• Blaise Pascal - The Provincial Letters
• Blaise Pascal - Miracle
• Blaise Pascal - The Pensées
• Blaise Pascal - Last works and death
• Blaise Pascal - Legacy
• Blaise Pascal - Works
• Blaise Pascal - Notes

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Blaise Pascal - Religious conversion. Biographically, we can say that two basic influences led him to his conversion: sickness and Jansenism. As early as his eighteenth year he suffered from a nervous ailment that left him hardly a day without pain. In 1647 a paralytic attack so disabled him that he could not move without crutches. His head ached, his bowels burned, his legs and feet were continually cold, and required wearisome aids to circulation of the blood; he wore stockings steeped in brandy to warm his fee ...

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Blaise Pascal, Blaise Pascal - Early life and education, Blaise Pascal - Contributions to mathematics, Blaise Pascal - Philosophy of mathematics, Blaise Pascal - Contributions to the physical sciences, Blaise Pascal - Mature life religion philosophy and literature, Blaise Pascal - Religious conversion, Blaise Pascal - Upon brink of death, Blaise Pascal - The Provincial Letters, Blaise Pascal - Miracle, Blaise Pascal - The Pensées, Blaise Pascal - Last works and death, Blaise Pascal - Legacy, Blaise Pascal - Works, Blaise Pascal - Notes

Read more here: » Blaise Pascal: Encyclopedia II - Blaise Pascal - Mature life religion philosophy and literature

In honor of his scientific contributions, the name Pascal has been given to the SI unit of pressure, to a programming language, and Pascal's law (an important principle of hydrostatics), and as mentioned above, Pascal's triangle and Pascal's wager still bear his name. In Canada, there is an annual math contest named in his honour. The Pascal Contest is open to any student in Canada that is 14 ye ...

See also:

Blaise Pascal, Blaise Pascal - Early life and education, Blaise Pascal - Contributions to mathematics, Blaise Pascal - Philosophy of mathematics, Blaise Pascal - Contributions to the physical sciences, Blaise Pascal - Mature life religion philosophy and literature, Blaise Pascal - Religious conversion, Blaise Pascal - Upon brink of death, Blaise Pascal - The Provincial Letters, Blaise Pascal - Miracle, Blaise Pascal - The Pensées, Blaise Pascal - Last works and death, Blaise Pascal - Legacy, Blaise Pascal - Works, Blaise Pascal - Notes

Read more here: » Blaise Pascal: Encyclopedia II - Blaise Pascal - Legacy

In addition to the childhood marvels recorded above, Pascal continued to influence mathematics throughout his life. In 1653 Pascal wrote his Traité du triangle arithmétique in which he described a convenient tabular presentation for binomial coefficients, the "arithmetical triangle", now called Pascal's triangle. (It should be noted, however, that Yang Hui, a Chinese mathematician of the Qin dynasty, had independently worked out a ...

See also:

Blaise Pascal, Blaise Pascal - Early life and education, Blaise Pascal - Contributions to mathematics, Blaise Pascal - Philosophy of mathematics, Blaise Pascal - Contributions to the physical sciences, Blaise Pascal - Mature life religion philosophy and literature, Blaise Pascal - Religious conversion, Blaise Pascal - Upon brink of death, Blaise Pascal - The Provincial Letters, Blaise Pascal - Miracle, Blaise Pascal - The Pensées, Blaise Pascal - Last works and death, Blaise Pascal - Legacy, Blaise Pascal - Works, Blaise Pascal - Notes

Read more here: » Blaise Pascal: Encyclopedia II - Blaise Pascal - Contributions to mathematics

Born in Clermont, in the Auvergne region of France, Blaise Pascal lost his mother, Antoinette Begon, at the age of three. His father, Étienne Pascal (1588–1651), was a local judge and member of the petite noblesse, who also had an interest in science and mathematics. Blaise Pascal was brother to Jacqueline Pascal and two other sisters, only one of whom, Gilberte, survived past childhood. In 1631, Étienne moved with his children to Paris. Étienne decided that he would educate his son, who showed extraordinary mental and int ...

See also:

Blaise Pascal, Blaise Pascal - Early life and education, Blaise Pascal - Contributions to mathematics, Blaise Pascal - Philosophy of mathematics, Blaise Pascal - Contributions to the physical sciences, Blaise Pascal - Mature life religion philosophy and literature, Blaise Pascal - Religious conversion, Blaise Pascal - Upon brink of death, Blaise Pascal - The Provincial Letters, Blaise Pascal - Miracle, Blaise Pascal - The Pensées, Blaise Pascal - Last works and death, Blaise Pascal - Legacy, Blaise Pascal - Works, Blaise Pascal - Notes

Read more here: » Blaise Pascal: Encyclopedia II - Blaise Pascal - Early life and education

Blaise Pascal - Religious conversion. Biographically, we can say that two basic influences led him to his conversion: sickness and Jansenism. As early as his eighteenth year he suffered from a nervous ailment that left him hardly a day without pain. In 1647 a paralytic attack so disabled him that he could not move without crutches. His head ached, his bowels burned, his legs and feet were continually cold, and required wearisome aids to circulation of the blood; he wore stockings steeped in brandy to warm his fee ...

See also:

Blaise Pascal, Blaise Pascal - Early life and education, Blaise Pascal - Contributions to mathematics, Blaise Pascal - Philosophy of mathematics, Blaise Pascal - Contributions to the physical sciences, Blaise Pascal - Mature life, religion, philosophy, and literature, Blaise Pascal - Religious conversion, Blaise Pascal - Upon brink of death, Blaise Pascal - The Provincial Letters, Blaise Pascal - Miracle, Blaise Pascal - The Pensées, Blaise Pascal - Last works and death, Blaise Pascal - Legacy, Blaise Pascal - Works, Blaise Pascal - Notes

Read more here: » Blaise Pascal: Encyclopedia II - Blaise Pascal - Mature life, religion, philosophy, and literature