Blaise pascal biography educational background check

Interesting facts about blaise pascal

He displayed signs of ill health from his infancy, and thereby was educated at home solely by his father Etienne, a tax collector and mathematician. This education was highly unusual considering the time and his social status, and centered almost entirely on mathematics and classical languages, with little formal study of literature or philosophy: his writings were thus primarily grounded in his own thoughts and experiences.

He composed the Essay on Conics and started work on a calculating machine to aid his father, after the family had relocated to Rouen. While his interpretation was mistaken the air was not, in fact, heavier in certain places , his work paved the way for other air pressure theorists and the unit for pressure bears his name. France was undergoing a period of political unrest and the Pascal household relocated frequently for both financial and political regions.

The highly introspective nature of many of his philosophical texts undoubtedly reflects the extent of his daily occupations and limited opportunities. According to literary critic Nicholas Boileau, these letters mark the beginning of modern French prose and they achieved massive success. He explores many inquiries into the nature of man, a nature which he believes imperfect and wretched, which can only be healed with the grace of salvation.

Pascal was also a rare proponent of the importance of the senses and of sentiment in the art of reasoning, in comparison to the staunch rationalists of the time.

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He passed away in Paris at the age of 39, leaving considerable contributions to the fields of mathematics, theology, physics and philosophy. The otter in Animal Crossing is named for him. Biography — Blaise Pascal.