PASCAL, BLAISE

born June 19, 1623, Clermont-Ferrand, Fr. died Aug. 19, 1662, Paris Pascal, red crayon drawing by Jean Domat, c. 1649. In the Bibliothque Nationale, French mathematician, physicist, religious philosopher, and master of prose. He laid the foundation for the modern theory of probabilities, formulated what came to be known as Pascal's law of pressure, and propagated a religious doctrine that taught the experience of God through the heart rather than through reason. The establishment of his principle of intuitionism had an impact on such later philosophers as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Henri Bergson and also on the Existentialists. born June 19, 1623, Clermont-Ferrand, Fr. died Aug. 19, 1662, Paris French mathematician, physicist, and religious philosopher and writer who was the founder of the modern theory of probabilities. His ideas on inner religion influenced Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Henri Bergson, and the Existentialists. At the age of 17 Pascal published an essay on mathematics that was highly regarded in the academic community and praised by Ren Descartes. He invented the first digital calculator (164244) to assist his mathematician father in local administration. Further studies in geometry, hydrodynamics, and hydrostatic and atmospheric pressure led him to invent the syringe and to discover Pascal's law of pressure (164754) and the principle of the hydraulic press (1650). By 1653 Pascal had begun to feel religious scruples; and, though he never became one of the solitaries at the Jansenist convent of Port-Royal, it was henceforth only at their request that he was ever to take up his pen. In 1655 he entered Port-Royal, where he wrote Les Provinciales (Provincial Letters), a defense of Jansenism against the Jesuits, and the Penses (Thoughts). Les Provinciales were an immediate success, and their popularity has remained undiminished. This they owe primarily to their form, in which for the first time the bombast and tedious rhetoric of traditional French prose are replaced by variety, brevity, tautness, and precision of style; they mark the beginning of modern French prose. The Penses consists of his notes and manuscript fragments of his Christian apologetics. Pascal spent his last years in scientific research and good works. Additional reading A standard edition of Pascal's works is OEuvres de Blaise Pascal, ed. by Lon Brunschvicg, Pierre Boutroux, and Flix Gazier, 14 vol. (190414, reprinted 1978). It has been replaced in part by Oeuvres compltes, ed. by Jean Mesnard (1964 ); and by Penses: Notes on Religion and Other Subjects, ed. by Louis Lafuma (1973; originally published in French, 3rd ed., 1960). Other editions include H.F. Stewart (ed. and trans.), Pascal's Penses (1950, reissued 1965), containing an English translation; and H.F. Stewart (ed.), Les Provinciales (1920, reissued 1951).Biographical studies include A.J. Krailsheimer, Pascal (1980), an introductory text for the general reader; Lucien Jerphagnon, Le Caractre de Pascal (1962); Jean Mesnard, Pascal (1969, originally published in French, 1965), an excellent work with bibliography, and Pascal et les Roannez, 2 vol. (1965); and Philippe Sellier, Pascal et Saint Augustin (1970). Robert J. Nelson, Pascal: Adversary and Advocate (1981), a biography, concentrates on linguistics, theology, and personal development. Critical works include mile Cailliet, The Clue to Pascal (1943, reissued 1970), and Blaise Pascal, l'homme et l'oeuvre (1956), a collection of articles and discussions from the proceedings of a congress on Pascal; Jan Miel, Pascal and Theology (1969), a study of his theology of grace; Hugh M. Davidson, The Origins of Certainty (1979), an introduction to the Penses; and Richard Parish, Pascal's Lettres Provinciales: A Study in Polemic (1989), a discussion focusing on the method of debate in this work. Jean Orcibal Lucien Jerphagnon The Editors of the Encyclopdia Britannica Major Works: Mathematics, logic, and the foundations of science Essai pour les coniques (1640); Lettre sur le sujet de la machine invente par le sieur B.P. pour faire toutes sortes d'opration d'arithmtique (1645); De l'autorit en matire de philosophie, the first editor's title of Pascal's preface to a projected Trait du vuide, consisting of a general statement of the principle of scientific research (written 1647, printed 1779); Trait du triangle arithmtique avec quelques autres petits traits sur la mme matire (written 1654, printed 1665); De l'esprit gomtriquede l'art de persuader (written c. 1658, first printed in two parts 1728 and 1776); Histoire de la roulette, appelle autrement trochode ou cyclode (1658); Lettres de A. Dettonville, contenant quelques-unes de ses inventions de gomtrie (165859). Physics Expriences nouvelles touchant le vuide (1647); Rcit de la grande exprience de l'quilibre des liqueurs (1648); Traites de l'quilibre des liqueurs et de la pesanteur de la masse de l'air (written 1651, printed 1663; The Physical Treatises of Pascal: The Equilibrium of Liquids and the Weight of the Mass of the Air, 1937). Religious philosophy and controversy Abrg de la vie de Jsus-Christ (written 1654 or 1655, printed 1846); Lettre escritte un Provincial par un de ses amis sur le sujet des disputes prsentes de la Sorbonne (January 1656, followed by 17 more pamphlets on the same themes down to March 1657), all 18 being subsequently republished together as Les Provinciales (1657; augmented edition, with supplementary pamphlets, 1659); Projet de mandement contre l'Apologie pour les casuistes (written 1658, printed 1779); Ecrits sur la grce (four treatises drafted between 1656 and 1658 and printed from 1779 onward); Penses de M. Pascal sur la religion et sur quelques autres sujets (1670; the first Eng. trans. was Monsieur Pascal's Thoughts, Meditations, and Prayers, 1688; numerous new translations and versions have appeared since then); Prire pur demander Dieu le bon usages des maladies (written 1659, printed 1666 and 1670). Other works Trois discours sur la condition des grands (comprised 1660, printed 1670). Collected editions of Pascal's works include letters of mathematical or spiritual interest. Collected editions Considerable editions of Pascal's Oeuvres compltes were undertaken by the Abb Charles Bossut, 5 vol. (1779); and by Lon Brunschvicg, Pierre Boutroux, and Flix Gazier, 14 vol. (190825). The handiest edition is by Louis Lafuma, l'Intgrale (1960). Collections in English include The Miscellaneous Writings of Pascal (1849); Thoughts, Letters, Minor Works (1910); and Provincial Letters, Penses, Scientific Treatises, Encyclopdia Britannica Great Books of the Western World (1952).