Blaise Pascal

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Painting of Blaise Pascal

Blaise Pascal (1623 – 1662) was a French mathematician. He was born in Clermont-Ferrand, France. His mother died when he was three years old. His father's name was Étienne. He had two sisters, Jaqueline and Gilberte. Pascal was completely educated by his father. Pascal was considered a child prodigy. Though best known for his works in math, including the creation of Pascal's Triangle, which is named after him, and developments in the field of probability, Pascal was also a scientist. He wrote in support of the scientific method and also contributed to physics. Later he wrote two books about Christianity. Also, the Pascal unit was named after him.

Pascal died in Paris, France at 39. He had several illnesses; it is not known which of them caused his death.

Pascal invented a form of counting machine which helped inventors create the calculator in the 20th century.