Blaise Pascal

Pascal, Blaise (1623–62), French scientist and religious philosopher. A mathematical prodigy, discoverer of the properties of the cycloid, and founder of the modern theory of probability, his work also contributed to the formulation of differential calculus. In physics he pioneered hydrodynamics and fluid mechanics, discovering Pascal's Law, the basis of hydraulics. His religious thought, influenced by Jansenism and by a religious experience (1654) that led him to enter the convent of Port-Royal, emphasizes “the reasons of the heart” over those of logic and intellect. It is expressed in his Provincial Letters (1656) and his posthumously published Pensées (1670).