Étienne Pascal
Étienne Pascal (born May 2, 1588 in Clermont-Ferrand , † September 24, 1651 in Paris ) was a French lawyer, administrator and mathematician. He was the father of Blaise Pascal .
He was the son of Martin Pascal, treasurer of the king, and of Marguerite Pascal from Mons . Pascal was a member of the lower nobility (Petit Noblesse) and inherently wealthy. He studied law in Paris, graduating in 1610. In the same year he returned to Clermont-Ferrand, where he bought the office of Council (Conseiller) of Bas- Auvergne . He became a tax assessor in Clermont-Ferrand and head of the Cour des Aides (tax jurisdiction) there. In 1631 he moved back to Paris. There he was a member of the scientific group around Marin Mersenne . There he came into contact with Gilles de Roberval and Gérard Desargues, among others . With Pierre Hérigone (Petrus Herigonius, 1580–1643) and Claude Mydorge (1585–1647), he was a member of a state committee in 1634 that was supposed to assess Jean-Baptiste Morin's proposal for longitude determination from lunar observations. In a dispute with Descartes over the calculus of variations by Pierre de Fermat , he took a position against Descartes for Fermat.
It is for the limaçon ( Pascals Limaçon known called) curve may have three parts with the one angle. It is created when a circle rolls on the outside of a circle of the same radius and was named after him by Roberval. Pascal discovered them around 1637.
Pascal invested the money from the sale of his job in Clermont-Ferrand in government bonds, which quickly lost value due to the French war stresses. When he protested against the devaluation, he was threatened with prison and in 1638 fled back to the Auvergne . At the intercession of his daughter Jacqueline, who performed successfully as an actress, with Cardinal Richelieu he was pardoned and even appointed as chief tax collector in Rouen, a position which he fulfilled conscientiously and in which he enjoyed general respect.
After he broke his leg on the ice in 1646, he was cared for by two Jansenist brothers of Deschamps. Étienne Pascal joined Jansenism and his daughter Jacqueline became a nun in the Port Royal des Champs monastery .
In 1646 he took part in air pressure experiments (vacuum experiments) with his son Blaise Pascal and Pierre Petit.
In 1648 he resigned from his position in Rouen and went to Paris (interrupted by a one-year stay in the Auvergne in 1649/50).
He had been married to Antoinette Begon (died 1626) since 1616 and, in addition to Blaise Pascal, had two daughters who reached adulthood, Gilberte (* 1620) and Jacqueline (* 1625). After the mother's death, the children were raised by the domestic servant Louise Delfault (who soon became part of the family) and taught by their father.
Web links
- John J. O'Connor, Edmund F. Robertson : Étienne Pascal. In: MacTutor History of Mathematics archive .
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Pascal, Etienne |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French lawyer, administrator and mathematician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 2, 1588 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Clermont-Ferrand |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 24, 1651 |
| Place of death | Paris |