Pascal: The Provincial Letters (Forgotten Books)

In these letters, Pascal humorously attacked casuistry, a popular rhetorical method used by theologists, and accused Jesuits of moral laxity. Being quickly forced underground while writing the Provincial Letters, Pascal pretended them to be the report of a Parisian to a friend in the provinces on the moral and theological issues then exciting the intellectual and religious circles in the capital. Pascal, combining the fervor of a convert with the wit and polish of a man of the world, reached a new level of style in French prose. (Quote from wikipedia.org)

About the Author

Blaise Pascal (1623 - 1662)
Blaise Pascal, (June 19, 1623 - August 19, 1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, and religious philosopher. He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father. Pascal's earliest work was in the natural and applied sciences where he made important contributions to the construction of mechanical calculators, the study of fluids, and clarified the concepts of pressure and vacuum by generalizing the work of Evangelista Torricelli. Pascal also wrote in defense of the scientific method.

Pascal was a mathematician of the first order. He helped create two major new areas of research. He wrote a significant treatise on the subject of projective geometry at the age of sixteen, and later corresponded with Pierre de Fermat on probability theory, strongly influencing the development of modern economics and social science.

Following a mystical experience in late 1654, he abandoned his scientific work and devoted himself to philosophy and theology. His two most famous works date from this period: the Lettres provinciales and the Pensees. Pascal suffered from ill health throughout his life and died two months after his 39th birthday.