Blaise Pascal

As an innovator, it's okay not to fit into a box. One French prodigy who lived over 350 years ago is proof of that.

The Unstoppable Blaise Pascal! Pascal (1623–1662) is probably best known for what the Western world calls Pascal’s triangle, but his contributions go far beyond that—and started when he was just 16 years old and wrote a treatise on projective geometry. His most innovative mathematical contribution: the development of probability theory.

In addition to his famous work in mathematics, Pascal published philosophical and theological works. His writing and creative thinking have set him apart as an important author from the French classical period.

Pascal, like many other massively influential thinkers throughout history, followed his interests no matter where they led. Startups can learn from his interdisciplinary approach—learning and applying knowledge across fields leads to brilliance.

Poor health led to Pascal’s death at age 39, but his influence as an unstoppable scholar and writer continues centuries later.