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not sure of the exact century: see Napier
[[Image:Pascal.jpg|thumb|289px|right|Pascal's triangle up to row six]]
[[Image:Pascal.jpg|thumb|289px|right|Pascal's triangle up to row six]]
'''Pascal's triangle''' is a triangular arrangement of the coefficients of a binomial expansion. Although the it was discovered in the eleventh century, the triangle's full significance was first understood by 17<sup>th</sup> century mathematician and religious scholar [[Blaise Pascal]].<ref>http://pages.csam.montclair.edu/~kazimir/history.html</ref> Pascal's triangle is constructed by starting with a single 1, and then moving downward and out so that each new element is the sum of the two numbers diagonally above it. (Elements outside the triangle are considered to be zero.)
'''Pascal's triangle''' is a triangular arrangement of the coefficients of a binomial expansion. Although it was discovered centuries earlier,<ref>"Napier ... discovered what eventually would be called "Pascal's Triangle" and placed it in common use long before Pascal was even born." [http://history-computer.com/People/NapiersBio.html] </ref> the triangle's full significance was first understood by 17<sup>th</sup> century mathematician and religious scholar [[Blaise Pascal]].<ref>http://pages.csam.montclair.edu/~kazimir/history.html</ref> Pascal's triangle is constructed by starting with a single 1, and then moving downward and out so that each new element is the sum of the two numbers diagonally above it. (Elements outside the triangle are considered to be zero.)
The top row of the triangle (containing just a single 1) is the 0<sup>th</sup> row, with rows below it being 1<sup>st</sup>, 2<sup>nd</sup>, and so on. The left-most element in each row (which will always be a 1) is the 0<sup>th</sup> element of that row, with the following elements continuing as 1<sup>st</sup>, 2<sup>nd</sup>, and so forth.
The top row of the triangle (containing just a single 1) is the 0<sup>th</sup> row, with rows below it being 1<sup>st</sup>, 2<sup>nd</sup>, and so on. The left-most element in each row (which will always be a 1) is the 0<sup>th</sup> element of that row, with the following elements continuing as 1<sup>st</sup>, 2<sup>nd</sup>, and so forth.