Blaise Pascal BIOGRAPHY |
Blaise Pascal was born on June 16, 1623 in Celrmont, France.
As a young boy, he had a fascination with mathematics even though he
did not study it as part of his schooling. At the age of twelve, he spent
his free time studying geometry. His father was impressed with Pascal's
ability and gave a copy of Euclid's Elements to Pascal. At fourteen, he
was admitted to the meetings of French geometricians and two years later, Pascal
wrote an essay on conic sections. Pascal invented the Pascaline in 1642.
The Pascaline was a forerunner to the modern day calculator, but it did
not see much financial success. In 1653, Pascal began to experiment with
the pressure exerted by gases and liquids which lead to the invention of the barometer.
He also invented the arithmetical triangle, which helped to calculate
probabilities and created the calculus of probabilities with Fermat around
this time. Pascal died in 1662. He will be remembered as an innovator
of mathematics and science forever. |
