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Blaise Pascal's Character Introduction

Blaise Pascal

BlaisePascal, a French mathematician, physicist, philosopher and essayist,1June, 965 1623 was born in clermont-ferrand, Overwien, Dom Province.

/kloc-at the age of 0/6, he discovered the famous Pascal's hexagon theorem: the intersection of three pairs of opposite sides of a hexagon inscribed with a quadratic curve. At the age of 17, he wrote The Theory of Conic Curves (1640), which is a paper about GirardDesargues' experience in projective geometry, including the above theorems. These works are the greatest progress of cone theory since Apollonius. 1642, he designed and made an automatic addition and subtraction computing device, which was called the first digital calculator in the world, and provided the basic principle for computer design in the future. 1654 began to study several mathematical problems, deeply discussed the principle of inseparability in infinitesimal analysis, obtained a general method to find the area and center of gravity surrounded by different curves, and solved the cycloid problem with the principle of integral calculus, which was completed on the cycloid in 1658. The manuscript of his thesis has great inspiration for GottfriedLeibniz to establish calculus. While studying the properties of binomial coefficients, he wrote Arithmetic Triangle and submitted it to the Paris Academy of Sciences. Later, it was included in his complete works and published in 1665. The binomial coefficient given in it was later called Pascal Triangle, but it was actually known by Jia Xian of China about 1 100. Discussing the distribution of gambling money corresponding to PierreFermat has a great influence on the development of early probability theory. He also made a mercury barometer (1646) and wrote a paper on liquid balance, air weight and density (1651-kloc-0/654). Since 1655, he has lived in seclusion in a monastery and wrote classic works such as Random Thoughts (1658).

Chinese name: Blaise Pascal.

Mbth: BlaisePascal

Nationality: France

Place of birth: Clairmont, Overwien, Domhill province.

Date of birth:1June 623 (the year of Guihai).

Date of death: A.D. 1662 (the year of Renyin),1August 9.

Occupation: mathematician, physicist, thinker

Main achievements: important figures in western scientific and ideological circles

Many scientific instruments have been invented and improved.

Representative works: arithmetic triangle, thought record, etc.

Religion: Catholicism

Character experience

Pascal was born in Clairmont, Dom Mont, Overwien province. He grew up weak and lost his mother at the age of three. Father Ajina (1588- 165 1 year) is a young aristocrat, a former magistrate, a mathematician and a Latin scholar. Blaise pascal is the elder brother of Jacqueline Pascal and two other sisters (only one of them, named Jebert, lived as a child). After my mother died, my father resigned as a judge.

1623 June 19 was born in clermont-ferrand, Dom. Pascal had no formal school education. His mother died when he was four years old, and his father and two sisters, who were highly educated and served as government officials, were responsible for his education and training. His father is a respected mathematician. Under his careful education, Pascal was proficient in Euclidean geometry at an early age. He independently discovered the first 32 theorems of Euclid, and the order was completely correct. 12 years old, he found that "the sum of the angles in the triangle is equal to 180 degrees" and began to learn mathematics from his father. Pascal moved to Paris with his family in 163 1. Father found Pascal promising. At the age of 65,438+06, he took him to attend the academic activities of the group of mathematicians and physicists in Paris (the predecessor of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris) with love, which opened his eyes. At the age of 65,438+07, Pascal wrote the article "The Theory of Cone Section" with a high level of mathematics, which was the result of his study of De Salgues's classic works on integral projective geometry.

Pascal's family moved to Paris in 163 1. Aikina educated Pascal himself and often talked with first-class Parisian geometricians such as Malan Mei Sen, Gassendi, Desargues and Descartes. At this time, Pascal showed great talent in mathematics. At the age of 1 1, Pascal wrote an article about the relationship between vibration and sound, which made Aikina worry that his son would affect his study of Greek and Latin, so he was forbidden to study mathematics before 15. One day, Aikina discovered that Pascal Jr. (then 12 years old) independently proved on the wall with a piece of coal that the sum of the angles of a triangle is equal to two right angles. Since then, Pascal has been allowed to study Euclidean geometry.

Pascal Jr. is particularly interested in Sarkozy's works. Under the influence of de Sarge's thought, Pascal wrote an article about conic curves at the age of 16. Most of the book has been lost, but an important conclusion has been preserved, that is Pascal's theorem. Descartes enjoyed this book very much, but he couldn't believe it was written by a boy of 16 years old. Pascal moved to Rouen with his family in 164 1. From 1642 to 1644, Pascal invented the adder, which is the earliest calculator in the world and is now on display in the French Museum. He accepted religious teachings, but still devoted himself to scientific experiments. From 65438 to 0653, Pascal devoted himself to the study of vacuum and hydrostatics and achieved a series of important results.

1647 returned to Paris to live. According to Torricelli's theory, he did a lot of experiments, and the experiment in 1647 caused a sensation in Paris. He himself said that the fundamental guiding ideology of his experiment is to oppose the traditional concept that "nature hates vacuum".

1648, he published a paper on vacuum. 1648, Pascal conceived and carried out the experiment of measuring atmospheric pressure at different heights in the same area, and found that atmospheric pressure increased with the decrease of height. In recent years, Pascal made new discoveries in his experiments and made many important inventions, such as the invention of syringe and hydraulic press, and the improvement of Torricelli mercury barometer. From 1649 to 165 1, Pascal and his collaborator Pierre measured the changes of atmospheric pressure in detail at the same place, and became pioneers in weather forecasting with barometer. 165 1 year, Pascal began to summarize his experimental results. 1654, he wrote a paper on liquid balance and air weight, which was officially published in 1663. Pascal then turned to theological research, and 1655 entered Petraeus' theological center. Starting from skepticism, he thinks that perceptual and rational knowledge are unreliable, and thus draws the conclusion that faith is above everything else.

Pascal family believed in Catholicism before 1646. Because of his father's illness, he came into contact with deeper religious beliefs, which had a great influence on his later life. Pascal corresponded with mathematician Fermat. Together, they solved the problem sent by an upper-class gambler and amateur philosopher. He can't figure out why he always loses money when there is some combination of three dice. In the process of solving this problem, they laid the foundation of modern probability theory. He made many contributions in his short life, especially in mathematics and physics. 1646, in order to test the theories of Italian physicists Galileo and Torricelli, he made a mercury barometer and repeated atmospheric pressure experiments on the top of clermont-ferrand overlooking Paris, paving the way for the study of fluid dynamics and hydrostatics. In order to improve Torricelli's barometer in the experiment, he invented the syringe and hydraulic press on the basis of Pascal's law.

His research and work in vacuum further enhanced his reputation. He was weak from childhood and was plagued by illness because of overwork. However, it was during 165 1 ~ 1654 that he worked intensively in science and wrote many papers on liquid balance, air weight and density, and arithmetic triangle, and the latter paper became the basis of probability theory. During the period of 1655~ 1659, he also wrote many religious works. In his later years, he was suggested to publish the research results on wheel lines, so he was immersed in scientific interest again. However, since February of 1659, his illness has worsened, and he can't work normally, nor can he be satisfied with his pious religious life. Finally, he died in great pain.

Pascal died in August of 1662 at the age of 39. Later generations named the pressure unit, Pa, after Pascal.

Main contribution

physics

Pascal put forward the law that fluid can transmit pressure in 1653, which is called Pascal's law. Using this principle, a hydraulic press is manufactured. He also made a water injector (syringe), inherited the atmospheric pressure experiment of Galileo and E Torricelli, and found that the atmospheric pressure changed with height. Pressure units in the international system of units are named after surnames.

mathematics

Pascal has a deep knowledge of mathematics. In addition to his outstanding contribution to probability theory, the most prominent one is Pascal's theorem put forward in his paper on conic curves. Pascal's theorem is an important theorem in projective geometry, that is, "a conic curve inscribed with the intersection of three opposite sides of a hexagon".

In the study of algebra, he published many papers about arithmetic progression and binomial coefficients, and discovered the coefficient law of binomial expansion, the famous Pascal triangle. (China called it "Yang Hui Triangle"), he and Fermat established the basis of probability theory and combinatorial theory, and obtained a series of solutions to probability theory problems. He studied the cycloid problem and obtained the general solutions of different curve areas and centers of gravity. He calculated the integrals of trigonometric functions and tangents, and introduced elliptic integrals for the first time.

Main work

Monograph on Conic Curves (1639)

New vacuum experiment (1647)

Arithmetic triangle (1653)

Letter to outsiders (1656-57)

The Spirit of Geometry (1657 or 1658)

Written in the form of signature (166 1)

A record of thoughts (die before you finish)