Blaise Pascal



Blaise Pascal (Born::June 19, 1623, Clermont-Ferrand, France – Died::August 19, 1662, Paris, France) was a French mathematician, physicist, and religious philosopher.

Biography
He was educated when he was a young child by his father, a judge. At the age of 16 he began to prepare himself for the complete study of mathematics. He invented the first calculating machine (the Pascaline) and at the age of thirty he completed it.

In 1650 at the age of 27 he quit the study of mathematics to pursue the study of religion. When he was in his thirties he worked on what was to become his most well known book (even though it was only published posthumously), “Apology [Defense] of the Christian Religion”.

In 1654 he had a religious experience that changed his life, and he entered a Jansenist monastery. He wrote 18 letters in defense of Jansenist Antoine Arnauld, now known as the Lettres provincials.

Publications

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