Home > Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal ( June 19, 1623 – August 19, 1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, and religious philosopher. His contributions to the natural sciences include the construction of mechanical calculators, considerations on probability theory, studies of fluids, and clarification of concepts such as pressure and vacuum. Following a profound religious experience in 1654, Pascal abandoned mathematics and physics for philosophy and theology.In honor to his scientific contributions, the name pascal has been given to a unit of pressure and to a programming languagePascal is one of the landmark computer programming languages on which generations of students cut their teeth and variants of which are still widely used today. TeX and much of the original Macintosh operating system were written in Pascal. The Swiss comp, as well as to many mathematical concepts.
1 Family
Born in ClermontClermont-Ferrand is a city of France, in the Auvergne region, with a population of approximately 140,000. It is the prefecture (capital) of the Puy-de-Dome departement''. It sits on the plain of Limagne in the Massif Central and is surrounded by a major i, in the AuvergneAuvergne Region Details Information Capital Clermont-Ferrand Population Total ( 1999) Density 1,308,878 50 /km² Area 26,013 km² Arrondissements14 Cantons158 Communes1,310 President of the regional council Pierre-Joel Bonte(since April 2004) Departements A region of France, Blaise Pascal lost his mother at the age of three. Following the loss of his mother he went into a deep depression in which Pascal became interested in math, science, and physcology. His mathematician father, Étienne Pascal ( 1588Events May 12 Day of the Barricades in Paris. Duke Henry of Guise seizes the city, forcing King Henry III to flee. May 28 The Spanish Armada, with 130 ships and 30,000 men, begins to set sail from Lisbon heading for the English Channel (it will take until- 1651Events January 1 Charles II crowned King of Scotland in Scone. This is his first crowning. June 28 June 30: The biggest battle of the 17th century, Battle of Beresteczko, between Poles and Ukrainians, won by Poles. September 3 English Civil War: Battle of), brought him up. Blaise Pascal was the brother of Jacqueline Pascal and had three other sisters. ( 1625Events March 27 Prince Charles Stuart becomes King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland. June 13 Marriage of Charles I of England and Henrietta Maria, Princess of France and Navarra. The English Parliament refuses to vote Charles I the right to coll- 1661Events January 6 The fifth monarchy men unsuccessfully attempt to seize control of London. George Monck's regiment defeats them February 5 The Shunzhi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty of China dies and is succeeded by his son the Kangxi Emperor. February 14 Ge).
2 Contributions to science
At age 16, Pascal produced a treatise on conic sections which, among other things, included an important original result now known as Pascal's theorem.
At age 18 he constructed a mechanical calculator capable of addition and subtraction (the Zwinger museum, in Dresden, Germany exhibits one of his original mechanical calculators).
In 1650, suffering from frail health, Pascal retired temporarily from mathematics. However, in 1653, his health recovered and he wrote Traité du triangle arithmétique in which he described a convenient tabular presentation for binomial coefficients, the "arithmetical triangle", now called Pascal's triangle.
His notable contributions to the fields of the study of fluids ( hydrodynamics and hydrostatics) centered around the principles of hydraulic fluids. His inventions include the hydraulic press (using hydraulic pressure to multiply force) and the syringe. He clarified concepts such as pressure (for which his name has been given to the SI unit of pressure) and vacuum.
In 1654, prompted by a friend interested in gambling problems, he corresponded with Fermat on the subject, and of that collaboration was born the mathematical theory of probabilities. He later used a probabilistic argument, Pascal's Wager, to justify belief in God and a virtuous life.
