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BIOGRAPHIES OF GREAT SCIENTISTS
Pascal Blaise. Biography of a scientist
Directory / Biographies of great scientists
Blaise Pascal, son of Étienne Pascal and Antoinette née Begon, was born in Clermont on June 19, 1623. The entire Pascal family was distinguished by outstanding abilities. As for Blaise himself, from early childhood he showed signs of extraordinary mental development. In 1631, when little Pascal was eight years old, his father moved with all his children to Paris, selling his position in accordance with the then custom and investing a large part of his small capital in the Hotel de Ville. Having a lot of free time, Etienne Pascal specifically took up the mental education of his son. He himself did a lot of mathematics and liked to gather mathematicians in his house. But, having drawn up a plan for his son's studies, he put aside mathematics until his son improved in Latin. Young Pascal asked his father to explain, at least, what kind of science is geometry? "Geometry," replied the father, "is a science that gives the means to correctly draw figures and find the relationships that exist between these figures." What was the surprise of the father when he found his son, independently trying to prove the properties of the triangle. Father gave Blaise Euclid's "Principles", allowing him to read them during his rest hours. The boy read Euclid's "Geometry" himself, never once asking for an explanation. The meetings held at Father Pascal's and some of his friends had the character of genuine scholarly meetings. Once a week, the mathematicians who joined Etienne Pascal's circle gathered to read the essays of the members of the circle, to propose various questions and problems. Sometimes notes sent by foreign scientists were also read. The activities of this modest private society, or rather, a circle of friends, became the beginning of the future glorious Paris Academy. From the age of sixteen, young Pascal also began to take an active part in the classes of the circle. He was already so strong in mathematics that he mastered almost all the methods known at that time, and among the members who most often presented new messages, he was one of the first. Very often, problems and theorems were sent from Italy and Germany, and if there was any mistake in the one sent, Pascal was one of the first to notice it. At the age of sixteen, Pascal wrote a very remarkable treatise on conic sections, that is, on curved lines resulting from the intersection of a cone by a plane - these are the ellipse, parabola and hyperbola. Unfortunately, only a fragment of this treatise has survived. Relatives and friends of Pascal argued that "since the time of Archimedes, no such intellectual efforts have been made in the field of geometry" - an exaggerated review, but caused by surprise at the extraordinary youth of the author. However, intensive studies soon undermined Pascal's already poor health. At the age of eighteen, he already constantly complained of a headache, which initially did not pay much attention. But Pascal's health was finally upset during excessive work on the arithmetic machine he invented. The machine invented by Pascal was quite complex in design, and calculation with its help required considerable skill. This explains why it remained a mechanical curiosity that aroused the surprise of contemporaries, but did not enter into practical use. Since the invention of the arithmetic machine by Pascal, his name has become known not only in France, but also abroad. In 1643, one of the most capable students of Galileo, Torricelli, fulfilled the desire of his teacher and undertook experiments to lift various liquids in pipes and pumps. Torricelli deduced that the reason for the rise of both water and mercury is the weight of the air column pressing on the open surface of the liquid. Thus the barometer was invented, and the obvious proof of the weight of air was made. These experiments interested Pascal. The experiments of Torricelli, reported to him by Mersenne, convinced the young scientist that it is possible to obtain a void, if not absolute, then at least one in which there is neither air nor water vapor. Knowing perfectly well that air has weight, Pascal attacked the idea of explaining the phenomena observed in pumps and pipes by the action of this weight. The main difficulty, however, was to explain the mode of transmission of air pressure. Blaise, attacking the idea of the influence of the weight of air, reasoned as follows: if air pressure really causes the phenomena under consideration, then it follows that the smaller or lower, all other things being equal, the column of air pressing on mercury, the lower the column of mercury will be. in a barometric tube. Therefore, if we climb a high mountain, the barometer must fall, since we have become closer to the extreme layers of the atmosphere than before and the column of air above us has decreased. The thought immediately occurred to Pascal to test this proposition by experiment, and he remembered the Mount Puy-de-Dome, which was near Clermont. November 15, 1647 Pascal conducted the first experiment. As we climbed the Puy-de-Dôme, the mercury dropped in the tube, so much so that the difference between the top and the foot of the mountain was more than three inches. This and other experiments finally convinced Pascal that the phenomenon of the rise of liquids in pumps and pipes is due to the weight of the air. It remained to explain the method of transmission of air pressure. Finally, Pascal showed that the pressure of a liquid spreads uniformly in all directions, and that from this property of liquids follow almost all of their other mechanical properties; then Pascal showed that the pressure of air, in terms of its mode of distribution, is exactly like the pressure of water. From the discoveries that were made by Pascal regarding the equilibrium of liquids and gases, it was to be expected that one of the greatest experimenters of all time would come out of him. But health... The state of his son's health often instilled serious concerns in his father, and with the help of friends at home, he repeatedly persuaded young Pascal to have fun, to abandon exclusively scientific studies. The doctors, seeing him in such a state, forbade him from all kinds of occupations; but this living and active mind could not remain idle. No longer occupied with science or piety, Pascal began to seek pleasure and, finally, began to lead a secular life, play and amuse himself. Initially, all this was moderate, but gradually he got the taste and began to live like all secular people. After the death of his father, Pascal, having become the unlimited master of his fortune, for some time continued to live a secular life, although more and more often he had periods of repentance. There was, however, a time when Pascal became indifferent to women's society: so, by the way, he courted in the province of Poitou a very educated and charming girl who wrote poetry and received the nickname of the local Sappho. Even more serious feelings appeared in Pascal in relation to the sister of the governor of the province, the Duke of Roanese. In all likelihood, Pascal either did not dare to tell his beloved girl about his feelings at all, or expressed them in such a hidden form that the maiden Roanese, in turn, did not dare to give him the slightest hope, although if she did not love, she highly honored Pascal . The difference in social positions, secular prejudices and natural girlish modesty did not give her the opportunity to reassure Pascal, who gradually got used to the idea that this noble and rich beauty would never belong to him. Drawn into secular life, Pascal, however, never was and could not be a secular person. He was shy, even timid, and at the same time too naive, so that many of his sincere impulses seemed simply philistine bad manners and tactlessness. However, secular entertainment, paradoxically, contributed to one of Pascal's mathematical discoveries! A certain cavalier de Mere, a good acquaintance of the scientist, was passionately fond of playing dice. He set two problems for Pascal and other mathematicians. First: how to find out how many times you need to throw two dice in the hope of getting the highest number of points, that is, twelve; the other is how to distribute the winnings between two players in case of an unfinished game. Mathematicians are accustomed to dealing with questions that admit of a completely reliable, exact, or at least approximate solution. Here the question had to be decided, not knowing which of the players could win if the game continued? It is clear that this was a problem that had to be solved on the basis of the degree of probability of winning or losing one or another player. But until then, no mathematician had ever thought of calculating only probable events. It seemed that the problem allowed only a conjectural solution, that is, that it was necessary to divide the bet completely at random, for example, by throwing lots, which determines who should have the final win. It took the genius of Pascal and Fermat to understand that such problems admit of quite definite solutions, and that "probability" is a measurable quantity. The first task is comparatively easy: it is necessary to determine how many different combinations of points there can be; only one of these combinations is favorable to the event, all the rest are unfavorable, and the probability is calculated very simply. The second task is much more difficult. Both were solved simultaneously in Toulouse by the mathematician Fermat and in Paris by Pascal. On this occasion, in 1654, a correspondence began between Pascal and Fermat, and, not being personally acquainted, they became best friends. Fermat solved both problems by means of the theory of combinations invented by him. Pascal's solution was much simpler: he proceeded from purely arithmetical considerations. Not in the least envious of Fermat, Pascal, on the contrary, rejoiced at the coincidence of the results and wrote: “From now on, I would like to open my soul to you, I am so glad that our thoughts met. I see that the truth is one and the same in Toulouse and in Paris". Probability theory has a huge application. In all cases where the phenomena are too complex to allow an absolutely reliable prediction, the theory of probability makes it possible to obtain results that are very close to real and quite suitable in practice. Work on the theory of probability led Pascal to another remarkable mathematical discovery, he made the so-called arithmetic triangle, which allows replacing many very complex algebraic calculations with simple arithmetic operations. One night, tormented by the most severe toothache, the scientist suddenly began to think about questions relating to the properties of the so-called cycloid - a curved line indicating the path traversed by a point rolling along a straight line of a circle, such as a wheel. One thought was followed by another, a whole chain of theorems was formed. The astonished scientist began to write with extraordinary speed. The entire study was written in eight days, and Pascal wrote at once, without rewriting. Two printers could hardly keep up with him, and the freshly written sheets were immediately handed over to the set. Thus, the last scientific works of Pascal appeared. This remarkable study of the cycloid brought Pascal closer to the discovery of differential calculus, that is, the analysis of infinitesimal quantities, but nevertheless the honor of this discovery did not go to him, but to Leibniz and Newton. If Pascal had been healthier in spirit and body, he would undoubtedly have completed his work. In Pascal we already see a quite clear idea of infinite quantities, but instead of developing it and applying it in mathematics, Pascal gave a wide place to the infinite only in his apology for Christianity. Pascal did not leave behind a single integral philosophical treatise, nevertheless, in the history of philosophy, he occupies a very definite place. As a philosopher, Pascal represents a highly peculiar combination of the skeptic and pessimist with the sincerely believing mystic; echoes of his philosophy can be found even where you least expect them. Many of Pascal's brilliant thoughts are repeated in somewhat modified form not only by Leibniz, Rousseau, Schopenhauer, Leo Tolstoy, but even by such a thinker as opposed to Pascal as Voltaire. Thus, for example, Voltaire's well-known position, which says that in the life of mankind, small occasions often entail huge consequences, was inspired by reading Pascal's "Thoughts". Pascal's "Thoughts" were often compared with Montaigne's "Experiments" and with the philosophical writings of Descartes. Pascal borrowed several thoughts from Montaigne, conveying them in his own way and expressing them with his concise, fragmentary, but at the same time figurative and fiery style. Pascal agrees with Descartes only on the issue of automatism, and even more so that, like Descartes, he recognizes our consciousness as an indisputable proof of our existence. But Pascal's starting point in these cases also differs from Cartesian. “I think, therefore I exist,” says Descartes. "I sympathize with others, therefore, I exist, and not only materially, but also spiritually," says Pascal. For Descartes, the deity is nothing more than an external force; for Pascal, the deity is the beginning of love, at the same time external and present in us. Pascal scoffed at the Cartesian concept of a deity no less than at his "finest matter." The last years of Pascal's life were a series of continuous physical suffering. He endured them with marvelous heroism. Having lost consciousness, after a daily agony, he died on August 19, 1662, thirty-nine years old. Author: Samin D.K.
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