Blaise Pascal: Reasons of the Heart (Library of Religious Biography Series)
O'Connell (emeritus, history, Notre Dame) creates a context for understanding brilliant mathematician and mystic Blaise Pascal. The physical and intellectual environment of Pascal's 17th-century France come alive in this well-written work. Especially effective is O'Connell's analysis of the Jansenist controversy, in which Pascal was deeply involved and which profoundly influenced his thought. Although the book contains no footnotes, an eight-page bibliographic essay indicates that the author drew on an array of secondary sources as well as the standard published primary sources. Recommended for collections in religion and in French history.?Linda V. Carlisle, Southern Illinois Univ., EdwardsvilleCopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.