The Geometry of Thought: Pascal’s Early Mathematical and Scientific Writings

The Geometry of Thought: Pascal’s Early Mathematical and Scientific Writings
Author :
Publisher : Livraria Press
Total Pages : 243
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9783689384661
ISBN-13 : 3689384664
Rating : 4/5 (61 Downloads)

Synopsis The Geometry of Thought: Pascal’s Early Mathematical and Scientific Writings by : Blaise Pascal

A new translation of Pascal's core mathematical and geometrical works, which include commentary on scientific progress, Morality, Theology and Sociological topics. This new Reader's Edition from Livraria Press contains a new Afterword by the translator on Pascal's personal relationship with Descartes and his intellectual objections to the new Cartesian rationality which fundamentally changed the course of both Science and Philosophy. Additional materials include a short biography on Pascal's life and impact, a useful timeline of his life and relationships, an index of his core Philosophic terminology, a chronological summary of all of his published and posthumous works, and the text of Pascal's Memorial, a poetic, fragmented account of his divine vision in 1654. These extra materials introduce the reader to Pascal's metaphysical works and his environment- bringing to life Pascal's witness of the dawn of a new Scientific age. This is volume 1 of the 7-part Complete Works of Pascal by Livraria Press. This volume covers Pascal’s groundbreaking contributions to mathematics, science, and engineering, as well as his Scientific-Philosophical commentary on the Enlightenment's Scientific progress. This translation of Pascal's 1648 "The History of the Roulette Line, Otherwise known as the Trochoid or Cycloid" contains Pascal's two additions to the text- "Continuation of the History of Roulette" (December 1658) and "Addition Following the History of Roulette" (January 1659). The 1647 work "Treatise on Emptiness & New Experiments Concerning the Vacuum" is Pascal's paper proving the existence of Vacuums (something his contemporary Descartes and the Scientific world believed impossible) along with a treatise on the philosophic ramifications of new scientific discoveries. The original French title of his paper on vacuums is "Expériences nouvelles touchant le vide" and the fragment of the unfinished "preface to the Treatise on Emptiness" (Fragment de préface pour le traité du vide) first written in October 1647. Together, these two papers provide a fascinating view into the mind of the Scientist-Theologian Pascal. In September 1647 in Pais, René Descartes met with Pascal over this topic of the vacuum. Descartes' mechanistic understanding of Physics led to his skepticism over the possibility of a vacuum, but Pascal almost convinced him.This meeting was arranged by Father Mersenne, a mutual acquaintance who was deeply involved in the intellectual circles of the time. Pascal and Descartes discussed various scientific and philosophical issues, particularly focusing on physics and the nature of the vacuum, a subject both were deeply interested in. Pascal had been conducting experiments on atmospheric pressure and the vacuum, and he sought Descartes' opinion on his findings. Descartes later read this work, evolving his understanding of Physics. Pascal's Theorem, also known as the Hexagrammum Mysticum Theorem, is found first here in his 1639 Essay on Conic Sections. This theorem is one of Pascal's early contributions to projective geometry, dealing with the properties of hexagons inscribed in conic sections. The lemma mentioned in this work is Pascal's famous theorem related to a hexagon inscribed in a conic section. It states that the intersection points of the opposite sides of such a hexagon lie on a straight line. Pascal referred to this inscribed hexagon as the "mystic hexagram" but would later be called Pascal's Theorem. Originally written in 1640 "Essai pour les coniques" is one of Pascal's earliest existing works on Geometry, displaying his particularly advanced understanding and extension of conic sections, inspired by Desargues' pioneering work. Pascal's definition of the arrangement of straight lines is closely borrowed from Girard Desargues, particularly from his work "Brouillon Project" (Project Draft). Desargues' influence is evident in Pascal's studies, especially in the properties and projections of conic sections. Pascal's work also reflects Desargues' theorem, which deals with the intersections of a transversal with a conic section and the sides of an inscribed quadrilateral. Following Girard Desargues' methods, Pascal studied the properties of conic sections by considering them as projections of a circle. This approach was to form part of his comprehensive work on conics, "Conicorum opus completum." Pascal's propositions often involve relationships that can be understood using this concept. A fragment from Pascal's complete treatise on conics, titled "Generatio Conisectionum," develops these considerations further, however this manuscript has been lost, save for handwritten copies of parts of it copied by Leibnitz. This volume contains: 1640: Essay on Conic Sections 1645: The Arithmetic Machine 1647: Treatise on Emptiness & New Experiments Concerning the Vacuum 1648: The History of the Roulette Line, Otherwise known as the Trochoid or Cycloid 1654: Treatises on the Equilibrium of Liquors and the Gravity of the Mass of Air 1871: On the Geometric Mind

The Good Life in the Scientific Revolution

The Good Life in the Scientific Revolution
Author :
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Total Pages : 404
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780226409566
ISBN-13 : 0226409562
Rating : 4/5 (66 Downloads)

Synopsis The Good Life in the Scientific Revolution by : Matthew L. Jones

Amid the unrest, dislocation, and uncertainty of seventeenth-century Europe, readers seeking consolation and assurance turned to philosophical and scientific books that offered ways of conquering fears and training the mind—guidance for living a good life. The Good Life in the Scientific Revolution presents a triptych showing how three key early modern scientists, René Descartes, Blaise Pascal, and Gottfried Leibniz, envisioned their new work as useful for cultivating virtue and for pursuing a good life. Their scientific and philosophical innovations stemmed in part from their understanding of mathematics and science as cognitive and spiritual exercises that could create a truer mental and spiritual nobility. In portraying the rich contexts surrounding Descartes’ geometry, Pascal’s arithmetical triangle, and Leibniz’s calculus, Matthew L. Jones argues that this drive for moral therapeutics guided important developments of early modern philosophy and the Scientific Revolution.

Fiction Refracts Science

Fiction Refracts Science
Author :
Publisher : University of Missouri Press
Total Pages : 312
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780826264695
ISBN-13 : 0826264697
Rating : 4/5 (95 Downloads)

Synopsis Fiction Refracts Science by : Allen Thiher

"Examines the relationship between science and the fiction developed by modernists, including Musil, Proust, Kafka, and Joyce. Looks at Pascalian and Newtonian cosmology, Darwinism, epistemology, relativity theory, quantum mechanics, the development of modernist and postmodern fiction, positivism, and finally works by Woolf, Faulkner, and Borges"--Provided by publisher.

Great Currents of Mathematical Thought

Great Currents of Mathematical Thought
Author :
Publisher : Courier Corporation
Total Pages : 280
Release :
ISBN-10 : 0486495795
ISBN-13 : 9780486495798
Rating : 4/5 (95 Downloads)

Synopsis Great Currents of Mathematical Thought by : François Le Lionnais

50 essays by eminent scholars include meditations on "Structures," Disciplines," "Space," "Function," "Group," "Probability," and "The Mathematical Epic" (Volume I) and on "Mathematics and the Human Intellect," "Mathematics and Technology," and "Mathematics and Civilization" (Volume II). 1962 edition.

A Scientific Way of War

A Scientific Way of War
Author :
Publisher : U of Nebraska Press
Total Pages : 400
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780803277168
ISBN-13 : 0803277164
Rating : 4/5 (68 Downloads)

Synopsis A Scientific Way of War by : Ian C. Hope

While faith in the Enlightenment was waning elsewhere by 1850, at the United States Military Academy at West Point and in the minds of academy graduates serving throughout the country Enlightenment thinking persisted, asserting that war was governable by a grand theory accessible through the study of military science. Officers of the regular army and instructors at the military academy and their political superiors all believed strongly in the possibility of acquiring a perfect knowledge of war through the proper curriculum. A Scientific Way of War analyzes how the doctrine of military science evolved from teaching specific Napoleonic applications to embracing subjects that were useful for war in North America. Drawing from a wide array of materials, Ian C. Hope refutes earlier charges of a lack of professionalization in the antebellum American army and an overreliance on the teachings of Swiss military theorist Antoine de Jomini. Instead, Hope shows that inculcation in West Point’s American military curriculum eventually came to provide the army with an officer corps that shared a common doctrine and common skill in military problem solving. The proliferation of military science ensured that on the eve of the Civil War there existed a distinctly American, and scientific, way of war.

Encyclopedia of Early Modern Philosophy and the Sciences

Encyclopedia of Early Modern Philosophy and the Sciences
Author :
Publisher : Springer Nature
Total Pages : 2267
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9783319310695
ISBN-13 : 3319310690
Rating : 4/5 (95 Downloads)

Synopsis Encyclopedia of Early Modern Philosophy and the Sciences by : Dana Jalobeanu

This Encyclopedia offers a fresh, integrated and creative perspective on the formation and foundations of philosophy and science in European modernity. Combining careful contextual reconstruction with arguments from traditional philosophy, the book examines methodological dimensions, breaks down traditional oppositions such as rationalism vs. empiricism, calls attention to gender issues, to ‘insiders and outsiders’, minor figures in philosophy, and underground movements, among many other topics. In addition, and in line with important recent transformations in the fields of history of science and early modern philosophy, the volume recognizes the specificity and significance of early modern science and discusses important developments including issues of historiography (such as historical epistemology), the interplay between the material culture and modes of knowledge, expert knowledge and craft knowledge. This book stands at the crossroads of different disciplines and combines their approaches – particularly the history of science, the history of philosophy, contemporary philosophy of science, and intellectual and cultural history. It brings together over 100 philosophers, historians of science, historians of mathematics, and medicine offering a comprehensive view of early modern philosophy and the sciences. It combines and discusses recent results from two very active fields: early modern philosophy and the history of (early modern) science. Editorial Board EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Dana Jalobeanu University of Bucharest, Romania Charles T. Wolfe Ghent University, Belgium ASSOCIATE EDITORS Delphine Bellis University Nijmegen, The Netherlands Zvi Biener University of Cincinnati, OH, USA Angus Gowland University College London, UK Ruth Hagengruber University of Paderborn, Germany Hiro Hirai Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands Martin Lenz University of Groningen, The Netherlands Gideon Manning CalTech, Pasadena, CA, USA Silvia Manzo University of La Plata, Argentina Enrico Pasini University of Turin, Italy Cesare Pastorino TU Berlin, Germany Lucian Petrescu Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium Justin E. H. Smith University de Paris Diderot, France Marius Stan Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA Koen Vermeir CNRS-SPHERE + Université de Paris, France Kirsten Walsh University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Author :
Publisher :
Total Pages : 920
Release :
ISBN-10 : 0415187125
ISBN-13 : 9780415187121
Rating : 4/5 (25 Downloads)

Synopsis Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy by : Edward Craig

Volume seven of a ten volume set which provides full and detailed coverage of all aspects of philosophy, including information on how philosophy is practiced in different countries, who the most influential philosophers were, and what the basic concepts are.

Resources in Education

Resources in Education
Author :
Publisher :
Total Pages : 928
Release :
ISBN-10 : IND:30000098626660
ISBN-13 :
Rating : 4/5 (60 Downloads)

Synopsis Resources in Education by :

Pascal's Mystic Hexagram

Pascal's Mystic Hexagram
Author :
Publisher :
Total Pages : 82
Release :
ISBN-10 : UOM:39015053954551
ISBN-13 :
Rating : 4/5 (51 Downloads)

Synopsis Pascal's Mystic Hexagram by : Anne Linton