Project

  Blaise Pascal was a Frenchman who dabbled in many different subjects including math and science. Specifically in mathematics he focused on researching game theory and probability theory. Pascal was born into a successful family full of lawyers, philosophers, mathematicians, biographers, poets, and actors. Pascal was sick from childhood and never once was free from pains and medical challenges in his life. People believe that he contracted gastrointestinal tuberculosis and was never fully able to recover. This makes his genius even more grand, and it is believed that having a disability in fact sparked a motive for Pascal to be even more successful in his studies. Pascal was given a unique education created personally for him by his father. At age thirteen he was introduced to his father's academic circle where he met many mentors and academic guides. At age sixteen Pascal published Essai pour les Coniques which was an essay on projective geometry (Simpson).

  In 1654 Pascal was sent a series of problems posed by Antoine Gombaud. These problems pertained to what is now called probability. With Pierre de Fermat, Pascal developed solutions to these problems and founded the modern theory of probability. To help with his theory, Pascal used the arithmetical triangle. Pascal did not create this triangle himself, as it was used by Chinese, Indian, Persian, and other European mathematicians before him. However, Pascal's use of the triangle grew attention and it is now often referred to as Pascal's triangle (Simpson).