ABSTRACT
Although he was an infirm man who lacked formal education, never held an academic position, and failed to reach his fortieth year, Blaise Pascal (1623-62) was one of the foremost scientists of the mid-seventeenth century, and he left an indelible mark on science and its relationship to religious faith. While Pascal is most widely known today for his Pensées (Thoughts), an unfinished defense of the Christian faith consisting of variously sized fragments, during his lifetime he was recognized as a scientist and mathematician of great originality.
