Pascal, Blaise

[person]

French mathematician, physicist, and philosopher born in Clermont, France (1623 - 1662 CE). Pascal made contributions toward the development of mechanical calculators and the study of fluids and pressure. His writings contributed to the development of the scientific method; and along with Pierre de Fermat he laid the foundations of probability theory which led to development of statistical methods. For further information see our module Statistics in Scientific Research.