1639: Published, at the age of sixteen, Essai pour les coniques
(Essay on Conics), a mathematical work describing one of the basic
theorems of projective geometry |
1642 Invented a mechanical calculator to assist his father,
a tax commissioner |
1648 Arranged for a barometer to be carried up a
mountain, to demonstrate that the level of mercury is dependent
upon the surrounding air pressure |
1654 Proved what is known as Pascal's law, which states that
pressure exerted upon a liquid is transmitted equally in all directions
|
1654 Traded most of his mathematical pursuits for theological
ones as a result of a religious epiphany |
1656-1657 Defended Jansenism, a movement of religious reform
in the Roman Catholic church, from Jesuit criticism in Lettres
Provinciales |