FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Bates Historian Writes Biography

LEWISTON, Maine -- John R. Cole, the Thomas Hedley Reynolds Professor of History at Bates College, has written a biography on the life of the seventeenth century French philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal.

In "Pascal: The Man and His Two Loves," just published by the New York University Press, Cole examines the scientific genius, subsequent religious conversion and later masterpieces of Pascal in a way that reintegrates the seemingly disparate periods of the Frenchman's life into a clear, complete portrait. Cole reinterprets the traditional view of Pascal by linking his early familial attachments to his love of God and his literay works, the "Provinciales" and the "Pensées."

Clinical psychologist Erna Furman, author of "A Child's Parent Dies," called Cole's book "a work of love as well as of scholarly devotion. It brings alive a fascinating man and it makes fascinating reading--not only from beginning to end, but long afterwards, as we absorb all we have learned and are stimulated to think further."

The author of "The Olympian Dream and Youthful Rebellion of Réne Descartes," Cole, who served two four-year terms as chair of the history department, has taught European history and western civilization at Bates College since 1967. He served as acting dean of the faculty at Bates during the 1981-82 academic year. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Haverford College, he earned master's and doctor's degrees at Harvard University. He lives with his family in New Gloucester.

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