Genre 4: Biography

Blaise Pascal was born in France and began his work in mathematics as a child. A famous French mathematician named Descartes read some of the work Pascal published when he was 16. Descartes did not believe that someone so young could have written Pascal's work. Pascal also invented a calculating machine that uses a process similar to computers of today. He also greatly advanced the theory of probability with his work on counting theory. 

To Pascal theology was more important than mathematics. He came to believe that mathematics was not God's plan for him and paused in his mathematical work after having a spiritual experience one night. After he stopped his work in math he focused on philosophy and theology. Pascal was not new to philosophy, he had previously written on the philosophy of math. He believed that the first principles, or truths, of mathematics can never be reached since proving them would require previous truths to back them up. Late in his life, he had a toothache that stopped when he thought about mathematics, he viewed this as a sign from God and returned to his mathematical work for a week and discovered the fundamental properties of the cycloid curve. He died of tuberculosis at the age of 39.

                                                   Works Cited

Clarke, Desmond, "Blaise Pascal", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2012 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2012/entries/pascal/>.

Dunham, William. "7 A Gem From Isaac Newton." Journey through Genius: The Great Theorems of Mathematics. New York: Wiley, 1990. 157-58. Print.

 Rouse Ball, Walter W. "Blaise Pascal." A Short Account of the History of Mathematics. Blaise Pascal. Trinity College, Dublin. Web. 13 Feb. 2013.