Blaise pascal biography matematico johns

In the s mathematician Blaise Pascal invented the Pascaline, an early calculator, and further validated Evangelista Torricelli's theory concerning the cause of barometrical variations.

Mathematician Blaise Pascal was born on June 19, , in Clermont-Ferrand, France.

In the s, Pascal laid the foundation of probability theory with Pierre de Fermat and published the theological work Les Provinciales , a groundbreaking series of letters that defended his Jansenist faith. Pascal, born on June 19, , in Clermont-Ferrand, France, was the third of four children and only son to Etienne and Antoinette Pascal.

His mother passed away when Pascal was just a toddler and he became exceptionally close to his two sisters Gilberte and Jacqueline. His father, Etienne, was a tax collector and talented mathematician. Etienne moved the family to Paris in He had decided to educate Pascal — a child prodigy — at home so he could design an unorthodox curriculum and make sure that Pascal was able to express his own innate curiosity.

It's also believed that Pascal may have been educated at home due to issues around his health. Even so, Etienne's plan backfired: The fact that mathematics was a forbidden topic made the subject even more interesting to the inquisitive boy, who at the age of 12 began exploring geometry on his own. He made up his own terminology, not having learned official mathematical terms, and quickly managed to work out that the sum of a triangle's angles is equal to two right angles.

Etienne was impressed. In answer to Pascal's unswerving fascination, his father permitted him to read the works of ancient Greek mathematician Euclid. Etienne also allowed Pascal to accompany him to meetings at Mersenne's Academy in Paris. It was there, at age 16, that Pascal presented a number of his early theorems, including his Mystic Hexagram, to some of the premier mathematical thinkers of the time.

After a bit of political tumult, the Pascal family drew up stakes once again in