The Young Paseal

Abstract

Versatility is not inevitably the companion of genius. It is not altogether common to find a man who is at the same time a clever experimental physicist, a creative mathematician, an inventor with an eye to money-making, a gifted writer whose artistry places him among the foremost French stylists, and a religious philosopher of singular originality and ardor. Blaise Pascal was such a man. He could write an important treatise on the vacuum as well as produce those incomparable examples of controversial literature, the famous Provincial Letters. lie invented the first adding machine of practical consequence and tried (in vain) to realize a profit from its sale. In the fragment. of his projected a pology for the Christian Religion, left unfinished by his death at the early age of thirty-nine, are to be found many evidences of his mathematical genius as well as of a remarkable piety and zeal. A clear and complete picture of his early life and education would not only be of rare in terest, but it could not fail to contain many suggestions of value to the modem teacher. It is indeed a pity that such incomplete information is available. The story is soon told, but it is well worth the telling, and perhaps it holds some inspiration or lesson for our own times.