Knowra Blaise Pascal Blaise Pascal Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and theologian. His work ranged from probability and fluid pressure to an early mechanical calculator and influential religious writings.
Pascal's theorem : A projective-geometry theorem stating that the opposite sides of a hexagon inscribed in a conic meet at three collinear points. At sixteen, Pascal published this theorem in his first major mathematical work.
Pascal's law : The principle that pressure applied to an enclosed fluid is transmitted undiminished throughout the fluid and its container. It captures the fluid-pressure result associated with Pascal’s experiments.
Pierre de Fermat : A French lawyer and mathematician whose work contributed to number theory, analytic geometry, and probability. His 1654 exchange with Pascal developed methods for solving the problem of points.
Hydraulic press : A machine that multiplies force by transmitting pressure through an enclosed fluid. Its operation applies the principle of pressure transmission associated with Pascal.
Pensées : A collection of unfinished notes by Pascal, published posthumously, on Christianity, human nature, and the limits of reason. These fragments preserve Pascal’s best-known reflections on faith, doubt, and human existence.
Pascal's triangle : A triangular arrangement of binomial coefficients in which each interior entry is the sum of the two above it. Pascal studied its number patterns and described them systematically in a treatise on arithmetic triangles.
Puy de Dôme experiment : A 1648 experiment in which a mercury barometer was measured at different elevations on Puy de Dôme. The changing mercury height supplied evidence that atmospheric pressure decreases with altitude.
Evangelista Torricelli : An Italian physicist and mathematician who invented the mercury barometer and studied atmospheric pressure. Torricelli’s barometer experiments inspired Pascal’s investigations of air pressure.
Pascal (unit) : The SI unit of pressure, equal to one newton per square metre. The unit honors Pascal’s investigations of fluid and atmospheric pressure.
Jansenism : A Catholic theological movement emphasizing human sinfulness, divine grace, and a strict moral life. Pascal’s religious commitments and defenses of Port-Royal were shaped by Jansenist disputes.
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