Abstract
WE have very few books in English about this great French thinker, who has always had an extraordinary following on the Continent. Prof. Bishop's study is therefore most welcome. The various aspects of Pascal's personality are studied in turn: a thinker, a mystic, a philosopher, a physicist, a mathematician, a theologian, a man of the world, Pascal had many interests and must be credited with many achievements. These, however, are not considered quite so eminent by the author as to justify the usual estimate of Pascal's genius as one of the first rank. In science, in particular, Pascal did not do so much as some other of his contemporaries: by stressing the importance of intuition, with due regard to the claims of experience in physics, and of formalism in mathematics, it would appear that Pascal was ultimately concerned more with religion than with positive knowledge.
Pascal
The Life of Genius. By Morris Bishop. Pp. xii + 398 + 6 plates. (London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd., 1937.) 12s. 6d. net.
Enjoying our latest content?
Log in or create an account to continue
- Access the most recent journalism from Nature's award-winning team
- Explore the latest features & opinion covering groundbreaking research
or
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
G., T. Pascal. Nature 143, 454 (1939). https://doi.org/10.1038/143454b0
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/143454b0
