Blaise Pascal was a mathematician, experimental scientist and religious apologist. Pascal is often credited with making major contributions to the discovery of the mathematical theory of probability, and he made serious contributions to geometry as well as organizing one of the great scientific experiments of the seventeenth century. He also engaged in such practical activities as producing a mechanical calculating machine and at the end of his life attempting (unsuccessfully) to begin a public bus system in Paris. Pascal was also a major voice in defending Jansenism in the Provincial Letters and Catholicism in the Pensées. Though he was clearly one of the brightest minds of the seventeenth …
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Citation: Uzgalis, William. "Blaise Pascal". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 November 2008 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3491, accessed 24 November 2024.]
