什麼是巴斯噶
Pascal, Blaise
法國數學家、物理學家和宗教哲學家。數學家之子，爲小神童，在1640年就寫出圓錐曲線的論文，引起笛卡兒的嫉妒。1640年代和1650年代，對物理學（訂出巴斯噶原理）和數學（鑽研算術三角，發明計算機，並改進微分學）做了很大的貢獻。由於早期研究的工作成果，他被視爲現代機率論的創立者。同時，他逐漸捲入詹森主義的事件中。《給外省人》是扞衛詹森主義而攻擊耶穌會的一系列書信。他爲基督教教義辯護的鉅着《辯護》，從未完成，但他把大多數筆記和未完成稿收集在一起，這些在他死後以《思想錄》（1670）之名出版。後來他再次投入科學工作，對編《幾何原本》做出貢獻，並發表了他對旋輪線的發現，但不久又恢復宗教奉獻的生活，晚年在救助窮人中度過。帕斯卡（pascal）一詞即爲紀念他而命名。亦請參閱Pascal's wager。
1623～1662年
Pascal, Blaise
French mathematician, physicist, and religious philosopher. The son of a mathematician, he was a child prodigy, earning the envy of Rene Descartes with an essay he wrote on conic sections in 1640. In the 1640s and '50s he made contributions to physics (formulating Pascal's law) and mathematics (working on the arithmetic triangle, inventing a calculating machine, and contributing to the advance of differential calculus). For work done in his early years, he is regarded as the founder of the modern theory of probability. At the same time he became increasingly involved with Jansenism. Les provinciales were a series of letters defending Jansenism and attacking the Jesuits. His great work of Christian apologetics, Apologie de la religion chrétienne, was never finished, but he put together most of his notes and fragments between 1657 and 1658; these were published posthumously as Pensées (1670). He returned to scientific work, contributing to the élements de géométrie and publishing his findings on cycloid curves, but he soon returned to devotional life and spent his last years helping the poor. The pascal was named in his honor. See also Pascal's wager.
