Part 1 of Essay
was born in Clermont France on June 19, 1623, and died in Paris on Aug. 19, 1662. His father, a local judge at Clermont, and also a man with a scientific reputation, moved the family to Paris in 1631, partly to presue his own scientific studies, partly to carry on the education of his only son, who had already displayed e ....

Part 2 of Essay
.... a book which Pascal read and soon mastered. At the young age of fourteen he was admitted to the weekly meetings of Roberval, Mersenne, Mydorge, and other French geometricians. At the age of sixteen he wrote an essay on conic sections; and in 1641 at the age of 18 he construced the first arithmetical machine, an instrument with metal dials on the front on which the numbers were entered. Once the entries had been completed the answer would be displayed in small windows on the top of the device. This ....