Etienne Pascal

Étienne Pascal was the father of Blaise Pascal. Étienne was trained in law in Paris, receiving his degree in 1610. He returned to his home town of Clermont were he bought the post of counsellor for Bas-Auvergne, the region around Clermont. He came from a wealthy family so had ample money without earning a living.

In 1631 he went to Paris so that his son could have the best education and he devoted himself the Blaise's education there. In 1634 he was appointed to a committee set up by Cardinal Richelieu to judge whether Morin's scheme for determining longitude from the Moon's motion was practical.

From about this time he became involved with Mersenne's meetings. Through these he collaborated with Roberval, Desargues and Mydorge.

Etienne also held a number of government appointments and a court official.

Etienne is famed as the discoverer of the curve the Limaçon of Pascal. The curve, so named by Roberval, can be used to trisect an angle.

Texto original por: J J O'Connor and E F Robertson

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JOC/EFR December 1996	School of Mathematics and Statistics University of St Andrews, Scotland
The URL of this page is: http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/history/Mathematicians/Pascal_Etienne.htm