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Blaise Pascal: The Man Who Made the Modern World
480 pages, Hardcover
Published July 22, 2025
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239 people want to read
About the author
Graham Tomlin
41 books12 followersGraham Tomlin (Ph.D., Exeter University) is dean of St. Mellitus College, London. He taught on Martin Luther and the Reformation in the theology faculty of the University of Oxford for eight years. He is the author, among many other publications, of The Power of the Cross: Theology and the Death of Christ in Paul, Luther and Pascal and Luther and His World.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 22, 2025
Easily one of my favorite books of the year. Tomlin not only offers insight to Pascal and his times but also applies those lessons for today in ways that stir the affections and also the intellect.
January 26, 2025
Blaise Pascal died in 1662. He lived a relatively short life of 39 years, but he packed a lot into that life, making some momentous contributions to Physics, Mathematics and to Philosophy. He was also surprisingly modern in some of his thinking. He was among the first to wear his watch on his arm, as a wrist watch. And at the end of his life he developed one of the first bus companies, to help the poor travel across the city of Paris.
Pascal was an extraordinary thinker who deserves to be much better known. He comes across with some social awkwardness, but also with a passion for social justice which led him to try to help the poor and disadvantaged.
His mind was constantly occupied, jumping about and making connections which no one else had thought of. For example, at the age of 19 he invented the Pascaline, which became the first calculating machine.
He also planned and carried out one of the first examples of a scientific experiment. He postulated that the air had a weight which would exert different pressures at different altitudes. He then sent people up a mountain with a tube of mercury to confirm that that really was the case.
Pascal also contributed to philosophy and theology. He is well known for his ‘wager’, which is usually interpreted as an argument that it is better for a person to believe in God, rather than risk the consequences of failing to do so. One of the interesting aspects of this book is that it looks closely at Pascal’s wider writings, and then it suggests that it is an oversimplification to think of the wager as an argument for God’s existence.
The author shows that Pascal had a sophisticated understanding of how and why people adopt religious beliefs. He thought that arguments were largely irrelevant, and that people believed due to deeper emotional and psychological factors. It is those deeper factors which his wager is trying to address. So, reading it as an ‘argument’ is potentially to completely misunderstand Pascal’s viewpoint.
That is a very interesting reading of Pascal, especially as the author explains it by drawing heavily upon Pascal’s wider writings.
Some lives of Pascal get bogged down in the theological intricacies involved in Pascal’s dealings with the Jesuits and Jansenists. One of the particularly commendable features of this book is that it manages to narrate those complicated issues in a very focused and accessible way.
This is partly because the author made a thoughtful decision to focus each chapter around specific themes. The book still narrates Pascal’s life in a chronological way, but there are specific chapters dealing with science, theology (etc). This makes it easier for readers to focus on specific areas of interest, and it also means that the book has a tight and focused structure.
One of the things which this book does very well, is that it sets Pascal into his historical context, with an excellent analysis of contemporary events and personalities. It also ranges across later commentators, noting how people like Foucault and Nietzsche (among others) have reflected on Pascal.
There are occasional minor errors in the text. For example, in chapter 16 (at 87%) ‘viaticum’ is confused with ‘mass.’ (Viaticum is the communion host which is consecrated at mass. It is not the mass itself, as the book seems to assume). But tiny errors like that are inconsequential in what is otherwise a masterful portrayal of a complex figure in a complicated era.
Overall, this is a well-researched and well-produced account of a fascinating individual. It is well-written to be accessible to readers from any background, and it includes around 10% of the text as notes and indices for academic readers.
(These are honest comments on a digital ARC (Advanced Review Copy) version of the text).
Pascal was an extraordinary thinker who deserves to be much better known. He comes across with some social awkwardness, but also with a passion for social justice which led him to try to help the poor and disadvantaged.
His mind was constantly occupied, jumping about and making connections which no one else had thought of. For example, at the age of 19 he invented the Pascaline, which became the first calculating machine.
He also planned and carried out one of the first examples of a scientific experiment. He postulated that the air had a weight which would exert different pressures at different altitudes. He then sent people up a mountain with a tube of mercury to confirm that that really was the case.
Pascal also contributed to philosophy and theology. He is well known for his ‘wager’, which is usually interpreted as an argument that it is better for a person to believe in God, rather than risk the consequences of failing to do so. One of the interesting aspects of this book is that it looks closely at Pascal’s wider writings, and then it suggests that it is an oversimplification to think of the wager as an argument for God’s existence.
The author shows that Pascal had a sophisticated understanding of how and why people adopt religious beliefs. He thought that arguments were largely irrelevant, and that people believed due to deeper emotional and psychological factors. It is those deeper factors which his wager is trying to address. So, reading it as an ‘argument’ is potentially to completely misunderstand Pascal’s viewpoint.
That is a very interesting reading of Pascal, especially as the author explains it by drawing heavily upon Pascal’s wider writings.
Some lives of Pascal get bogged down in the theological intricacies involved in Pascal’s dealings with the Jesuits and Jansenists. One of the particularly commendable features of this book is that it manages to narrate those complicated issues in a very focused and accessible way.
This is partly because the author made a thoughtful decision to focus each chapter around specific themes. The book still narrates Pascal’s life in a chronological way, but there are specific chapters dealing with science, theology (etc). This makes it easier for readers to focus on specific areas of interest, and it also means that the book has a tight and focused structure.
One of the things which this book does very well, is that it sets Pascal into his historical context, with an excellent analysis of contemporary events and personalities. It also ranges across later commentators, noting how people like Foucault and Nietzsche (among others) have reflected on Pascal.
There are occasional minor errors in the text. For example, in chapter 16 (at 87%) ‘viaticum’ is confused with ‘mass.’ (Viaticum is the communion host which is consecrated at mass. It is not the mass itself, as the book seems to assume). But tiny errors like that are inconsequential in what is otherwise a masterful portrayal of a complex figure in a complicated era.
Overall, this is a well-researched and well-produced account of a fascinating individual. It is well-written to be accessible to readers from any background, and it includes around 10% of the text as notes and indices for academic readers.
(These are honest comments on a digital ARC (Advanced Review Copy) version of the text).
May 13, 2025
Book Review: Blaise Pascal: The Man Who Made the Modern World by Graham Tomlin
Graham Tomlin’s Blaise Pascal: The Man Who Made the Modern World is a masterful intellectual biography that illuminates the extraordinary life and enduring legacy of the 17th-century polymath. In this meticulously researched yet accessible work, Tomlin captures Pascal’s dual brilliance as a scientific pioneer and profound religious thinker, arguing convincingly for his underappreciated role in shaping modernity. The book balances rigorous scholarship with narrative flair, making it equally valuable for academics and general readers interested in the intersection of faith, reason, and innovation.
Tomlin’s greatest achievement lies in synthesizing Pascal’s multifaceted contributions—from the invention of the mechanical calculator to the formulation of probability theory and his seminal Pensées—into a coherent portrait of a restless genius. The author excels at contextualizing Pascal’s scientific breakthroughs within the broader intellectual ferment of the Scientific Revolution, while also exploring how his late-career religious awakening influenced his philosophical outlook. Particularly compelling are the chapters dissecting Pascal’s Wager, where Tomlin elucidates its logical structure without oversimplifying its theological nuances.
The biography adopts a roughly chronological structure but thematically clusters Pascal’s endeavors, allowing for deep dives into specific domains. While this approach highlights the remarkable breadth of his achievements, some transitions between scientific and theological discussions feel abrupt. Tomlin might have strengthened the work by more explicitly tracing how Pascal’s mathematical mind informed his later existential reflections. Nevertheless, the prose remains engaging throughout, with vivid depictions of Pascal’s Parisian milieu and insightful analyses of his correspondence with contemporaries like Fermat and Descartes.
Rating: 4.7/5
Section Scoring Breakdown:
-Biographical Depth: 5/5 – Exhaustively researched with fresh interpretive angles
-Interdisciplinary Synthesis: 4.5/5 – Seamlessly connects science/philosophy/theology
-Narrative Flow: 4/5 – Occasionally uneven pacing between technical and reflective passages
-Modern Relevance: 4.8/5 – Persuasive case for Pascal’s contemporary significance
-Accessibility: 4.5/5 – Clarifies complex concepts without dilution
Thank you to NetGalley and the author, Graham Tomlin, for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Graham Tomlin’s Blaise Pascal: The Man Who Made the Modern World is a masterful intellectual biography that illuminates the extraordinary life and enduring legacy of the 17th-century polymath. In this meticulously researched yet accessible work, Tomlin captures Pascal’s dual brilliance as a scientific pioneer and profound religious thinker, arguing convincingly for his underappreciated role in shaping modernity. The book balances rigorous scholarship with narrative flair, making it equally valuable for academics and general readers interested in the intersection of faith, reason, and innovation.
Tomlin’s greatest achievement lies in synthesizing Pascal’s multifaceted contributions—from the invention of the mechanical calculator to the formulation of probability theory and his seminal Pensées—into a coherent portrait of a restless genius. The author excels at contextualizing Pascal’s scientific breakthroughs within the broader intellectual ferment of the Scientific Revolution, while also exploring how his late-career religious awakening influenced his philosophical outlook. Particularly compelling are the chapters dissecting Pascal’s Wager, where Tomlin elucidates its logical structure without oversimplifying its theological nuances.
The biography adopts a roughly chronological structure but thematically clusters Pascal’s endeavors, allowing for deep dives into specific domains. While this approach highlights the remarkable breadth of his achievements, some transitions between scientific and theological discussions feel abrupt. Tomlin might have strengthened the work by more explicitly tracing how Pascal’s mathematical mind informed his later existential reflections. Nevertheless, the prose remains engaging throughout, with vivid depictions of Pascal’s Parisian milieu and insightful analyses of his correspondence with contemporaries like Fermat and Descartes.
Rating: 4.7/5
Section Scoring Breakdown:
-Biographical Depth: 5/5 – Exhaustively researched with fresh interpretive angles
-Interdisciplinary Synthesis: 4.5/5 – Seamlessly connects science/philosophy/theology
-Narrative Flow: 4/5 – Occasionally uneven pacing between technical and reflective passages
-Modern Relevance: 4.8/5 – Persuasive case for Pascal’s contemporary significance
-Accessibility: 4.5/5 – Clarifies complex concepts without dilution
Thank you to NetGalley and the author, Graham Tomlin, for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
September 1, 2025
I have had a 25-year fascination with Blaise Pascal, and this book did nothing but nurture my admiration even more. He applied his fecund mind to so many topics and discovered the vacuum, pioneered computation, founded probability theory and conic sections, and wrote one of the most enigmatic yet persuasive defenses of Christianity's reasonableness. Any book that helps me swap my wits with his, even if only by a little, helps me become better at so many levels.
It's too much to ask any one book to capture all of Pascal's genius, and this book expectedly falls short. Written by a theologian, it focuses on Pascal's religious identity and does not enter into the history of science much, other than basically in passing. From a biographical perspective, that's unfortunate because religious folks, too, need to learn to connect science and religion in today's world. Understanding how Pascal unified them in one person better could dissipate some antagonism popularly portrayed.
As a spiritual biography, this book does an excellent job chronicling Pascal's journey from an ambitious scientist to his famous mystical experience in his "Night of Fire." It shows how he enters into the controversies of his day without being defined by them. It tells of his association with Jansenism and his sister's nunnery, both of which ran afoul of the Roman Catholic hierarchy. Finally, it shows his saintly heart in associating with the poor, not the salons, as his life waned.
Such spiritual drama illustrates the stuff of humble genius, and this book offers readers a chance to meet wits and spirits with this great luminary. Anyone looking to grow as a person - whether or not they follow Pascal at every point - can benefit from wrestling with this great mind. Even those who disagreed with him most - Voltaire and Nietzsche - agree with the supreme value of Pascal's mind. And of course, traditional Christians, especially those in the Augustinian/Reformed camps, will benefit from Pascal's keen observations on human life. I'm grateful to have spent time perusing these pages.
It's too much to ask any one book to capture all of Pascal's genius, and this book expectedly falls short. Written by a theologian, it focuses on Pascal's religious identity and does not enter into the history of science much, other than basically in passing. From a biographical perspective, that's unfortunate because religious folks, too, need to learn to connect science and religion in today's world. Understanding how Pascal unified them in one person better could dissipate some antagonism popularly portrayed.
As a spiritual biography, this book does an excellent job chronicling Pascal's journey from an ambitious scientist to his famous mystical experience in his "Night of Fire." It shows how he enters into the controversies of his day without being defined by them. It tells of his association with Jansenism and his sister's nunnery, both of which ran afoul of the Roman Catholic hierarchy. Finally, it shows his saintly heart in associating with the poor, not the salons, as his life waned.
Such spiritual drama illustrates the stuff of humble genius, and this book offers readers a chance to meet wits and spirits with this great luminary. Anyone looking to grow as a person - whether or not they follow Pascal at every point - can benefit from wrestling with this great mind. Even those who disagreed with him most - Voltaire and Nietzsche - agree with the supreme value of Pascal's mind. And of course, traditional Christians, especially those in the Augustinian/Reformed camps, will benefit from Pascal's keen observations on human life. I'm grateful to have spent time perusing these pages.
April 16, 2025
Tomlin gives us here a comprehensive biography of one of the 17th century’s most important thinkers, clearly positioning him in his place and time and explaining as accessibly as possible his scientific, mathematical, philosophical and religious achievements and ideas. I knew very little about Pascal until I embarked on this book, really little more than his famous wager, and I am now so much more knowledgeable. I can’t pretend to have followed all the maths and science, but that is my problem not the author's. Although the book focusses more on Pascal’s mind and work than the life, there’s still much excellently researched biography here, and I found the book an absorbing if sometimes challenging read.
May 19, 2025
Readable for those both casually and academically interested in the life of Blaise Pascal, the author sets the background with what is happening in the world as well as telling his life in sections based loosely chronologically, but also themed. I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews