Blaise Pascal - Biography.

Blaise Pascal - Biography. French philosopher, mathematician, and physicist Date June 19, 1623 Baptized Death August 19, 1662 Place of Clermont-Ferrand, France Birth Known For Deriving Pascal's law, which states that pressure exerted upon a liquid is transmitted equally in all directions Proving experimentally that the height of the mercury column in a barometer depends on the surrounding air pressure Formulating the mathematical theory of probability with French mathematician Pierre de Fermat Inventing the first mechanical adding machine Career 1639 Published, at the age of sixteen, Essai pour les coniques (Essay on Conics), a mathematical work describing one of the basic theorems of projective geometry 1642 Invented a mechanical calculator to assist his father, a tax commissioner 1648 Arranged for a barometer to be carried up a mountain, to demonstrate that the level of mercury is dependent upon the surrounding air pressure 1654 Proved what is known as Pascal's law, which states that pressure exerted upon a liquid is transmitted equally in all directions 1654 Traded most of his mathematical pursuits for theological ones as a result of a religious epiphany 1656-1657 Defended Jansenism, a movement of religious reform in the Roman Catholic church, from Jesuit criticism in Lettres Provinciales Did You Pascal invented the syringe and the hydraulic press. Know Pascal devoted his last years to Jansenism, a religious movement that emphasized predestination, denied free will, and maintained that human nature is incapable of good. He lived in a Jansenist community and actively defended the movement. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.