Jun 19, 2008

Blaise Pascal's Birthday

Great Thinkers Datebook: June 19.

Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) is born today, June 19. A prodigy, he wrote a book on conics when he was a teenager, then together with Pierre de Fermat, laid the foundations of the theory of probability.

Pascal also contributed to hydrodynamics and calculus before retiring from science in 1655 in order to devote his time to his interests in religion and philosophical writing. An example is his Pensies.

Here's a link to Blaise Pascal