Scientific Treatises
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1647-1665
- Language
- French
- Length
- Medium · 200 pp120 to 300 pages
- Difficulty
- Difficult4 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendGreat Books of the Western World, Volume 30, Pascal, translated by Richard ScofieldEncyclopaedia Britannica, 1952The collection as assembled for the Great Books set; the scientific pieces are otherwise scattered across specialist editions.
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The scientific and mathematical writings gathered under this heading in the Great Books set. They include Pascal's account of the experiments on the vacuum and his preface on the authority of the ancients in science, the treatises on the equilibrium of liquids and the weight of the mass of the air, which established hydrostatics, the essay on the geometrical spirit and the art of persuasion, the treatise on the arithmetical triangle with its use of mathematical induction, and the 1654 correspondence with Fermat that founded the theory of probability.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns Scientific Treatises are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
