Blaise Pascal

Frae Wikipedia, the free beuk o knawledge
Blaise Pascal
Pentin o Blaise Pascal made bi François II Quesnel for Gérard Edelinck in 1691.
Born19 Juin 1623(1623-06-19)
Clermont-Ferrand,
Auvergne, Fraunce
Dee'd19 August 1662(1662-08-19) (aged 39)
Paris, Fraunce
ResidenceFraunce
NaitionalityFrench
ReleegionRoman Catholic
Era17t-century philosophour
RegionWastren filosofie
Schuil
Main interests
Notable ideas

Blaise Pascal (19 Juin 1623 – 19 August 1662) wis a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer an Catholic philosophour. He wis a bairn prodigy that wis eddicated bi his faither, a tax collector in Rouen. Pascal's earliest wark wis in the naitural an applee'd sciences whaur he makkit important contreibutions tae the study o fluids, an clarified the concepts o pressur an vacuum bi generalisin the wark o Evangelista Torricelli. Pascal wrote in defence o the scienteefic method an aw.

In 1642, while still a teenager, he stairted some pioneerin wark on calculatin machines. Efter three years o effort an 50 prototeeps,[1] he biggit 20 feenisht machines (cawed Pascal's calculators an later Pascalines) ower the follaein 10 years,[2] foondit him as ane o the first twa inventors o the mechanical calculator.[3][4]

Pascal wis an important mathematician, helpin creaut twa major new auries o resairch: he wrote a signeeficant treatise on the subject o projective geometry at the age o 16, an later correspondit wi Pierre de Fermat on probability theory, strangly influencin the development o modren economics an social science. Follaein Galileo Galilei an Torricelli, in 1647, he rebuttit Aristotle's follaers that insistit that naitur abhors a vacuum. Pascal's results caused mony disputes afore bein acceptit.

In 1646, he an his sister Jacqueline identifeed wi the releegious muivement within Catholicism kent bi its detractors as Jansenism.[5] Follaein a releegious experience in late 1654, he begoud writin influential warks on filosofie an theology. His twa maist famous warks date frae this period: the Lettres provinciales an the Pensées, the umwhile set in the conflict atween Jansenists an Jesuits. In that year, he wrat an important treatise aboot the arithmetical triangle an aw. Atween 1658 an 1659, he wrote aboot the cycloid an its uise in calculatin the vollum o solits.

Ootthrou his life, Pascal wis in fail halth, espeicially efter the age o 18; he dee'd juist twa month efter his 39t birthday.[6]

References[eedit | eedit soorce]

  1. (fr) La Machine d'arithmétique, Blaise Pascal, Wikisource
  2. Mourlevat, Guy (1988). Les machines arithmétiques de Blaise Pascal (in French). Clermont-Ferrand: La Française d'Edition et d'Imprimerie. p. 12.
  3. See Schickard versus Pascal: An Empty Debate? Archived 2014-04-08 at the Wayback Machine an Marguin, Jean (1994). Histoire des instruments et machines à calculer, trois siècles de mécanique pensante 1642–1942 (in French). Hermann. p. 48. ISBN 978-2-7056-6166-3.
  4. d'Ocagne, Maurice (1893). Le calcul simplifié (in French). Gauthier-Villars et fils. p. 245.
  5. "Blaise Pascal". Catholic Encyclopedia. Retrieved 23 Februar 2009.
  6. Hald, Anders A History of Probability and Statistics and Its Applications before 1750, (Wiley Publications, 1990) pp.44