BLAIS

E PA

SCAL:

PROTÉGÉ

AND

INNOVATO

R OF

MATH

EMATI

CS

BY

IZ

AB

EL H

OD

SO

N

I wonder what would happen if I went and thought on a rock…….

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THE T

IME A

T

WHIC

H PASCAL

LIVED IN

•Pas

cal l

ived

on th

e brin

k of

a ti

me

of s

cien

tific

disco

very

in E

urope

know

n as

the

Scien

tific

Revol

ution

•Pas

cal’s

idea

s w

ere

influen

ced n

ot o

nly b

y th

e

Fren

ch c

omm

unity to

whic

h he

grew

up in

but

also

the

relig

ious

conflic

t of t

he tim

e an

d the

inst

itutio

ns th

at e

mer

ged

•Gal

ileo,

New

ton, R

ene

Desca

rtes

, and B

rahe

wer

e ju

st s

ome

of th

e sc

ientis

ts o

f Pas

cal’s

time

PASCAL’S

CHILDHOOD • Blaise Pascal was born on June 19, 1623 in

Claremont, France• Dad Etienne Pascal was a minor noble and

government official. • Pascal’s mother died in 1626 when Pascal

was just 3. • Pascal moves to Paris in 1631. He started

his education and was found to have a gift for mathematics.

• At the early age of 14, Pascal was admitted to weekly meetings with Roberval, Mersenne, and other French geometricians, from which the French Academy sprung.

• This was a significant position considering the selectiveness of French Academic Institutions compared to other European institutions

Building Blocks of Pascal’s

Knowledge=His Father

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BLAIS

E PA

SCAL

CALC

ULATO

R

•Pas

cal c

reat

ed th

is fo

r his

fath

er to

use

in

1642 in h

is jo

b as

a ro

yal t

ax c

omm

issi

oner

•Pas

cal s

pent t

hree

year

s an

d wen

t thro

ugh 50

proto

types

bef

ore

prese

nting h

is fi

rst m

achin

e

to th

e public

in 1

645

•Th

is in

ventio

n launch

ed m

any

innov

ator

s to

com

e ou

t in E

urope

and s

tart

inve

nting o

ther

mec

hanic

al d

evic

es a

nd oth

er c

alcu

lato

rs

• T

his c

alcu

lato

r cou

ld a

dd and s

ubtrac

t and

paved

the

way

for f

uture

arit

hmet

ic m

achin

es

PASCAL’S

TRIA

NGLE

• Published in Pascal’s Traité du triangle arithmétique (1653)

• Though Pascal was not the first to discover this pattern (the Chinese and Arabs had in earlier centuries), Pascal was the first to realize its compete capabilities and uses the pattern contained

• Pascal’s triangle is a pattern of binomial coefficients in a triangle

• This made a significant contribution in geometry and number theory

• Applications of Pascal’s findings include:

(x + y)2 = x2 + 2xy + y2 = 1x2y0 + 2x1y1 + 1x0y2

Or the model for all:(x + y)n = a0xn + a1xn−1y + 

a2xn−2y2 + ... + an−1xyn−1 + anyn

PASCAL

AND

PROBABILIT

Y

PROBLEM OF POINTS—

The issue in question was to decide how the stakes of a game of chance should be divided if that game were not completed for some reason.

• French nobleman Chevalier challenged Pascal to solve a puzzle known at the time as the problem of points.

• Pascal shows how to figure out the answer by listing all of the possibilities from the very beginning. 

•   We then look at all the combinations of heads and tails that are possible in three tosses =eight. 

• If each H or T has a possibility of being correct 4 times, this means that all 8 have an equally probability of picking.

• Through his work with probability Pascal established many of the basic laws of probability we use today

I wonder if it took Pascal a machine to figure out probability

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PASCAL’S

WAGER

•Pas

cal f

orm

ulate

d an a

rgum

ent f

or h

is b

elie

f in G

od

whic

h has

com

e to

be

know

n as

Pasca

l’s W

ager

•He

stat

es in

Pensees: I

f you

erro

neously

bel

ieve

in G

od, y

ou

lose

not

hing (a

ssum

ing th

at d

eath

is th

e ab

solu

te e

nd),

wherea

s if y

ou co

rrect

ly bel

ieve

in G

od, y

ou g

ain e

very

thin

g

(ete

rnal

blis

s). B

ut if y

ou co

rrect

ly disb

elie

ve in

God

, you

gai

n

nothin

g (dea

th e

nds all)

, wher

eas i

f you

erro

neously

disb

elie

ve

in G

od, y

ou lo

se e

very

thin

g (ete

rnal

dam

natio

n)

•Th

is th

eolo

gical a

rgum

ent i

s bas

ed u

pon th

e th

ought t

hat

failu

re to

acc

ept G

od’s

exist

ence

risk

s los

ing e

very

thin

g with

no pay

off a

nd in tu

rn th

e bes

t sol

ution is

to a

ccep

t God

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PASCAL’S

THEO

LOGY

•In

lite

ratu

re, P

asca

l is

regar

ded a

s on

e of

the

impor

tant

auth

ors

of th

e Fr

ench

Cla

ssic

al P

erio

d and is

today

stil

l

one

of th

e bes

t auth

ors

of F

rench

pro

se.

•His

use

of s

atire

and w

it in

fluence

d late

r deb

ater

s of

scie

nce a

nd oth

er fi

elds.

•Th

e co

ntent o

f his

lite

ratu

re is

bes

t rem

ember

ed fo

r its

stro

ng oppos

ition

to th

e ra

tional

ism

of R

ené

Desca

rtes

and s

imulta

neous

asse

rtio

n that

the

mai

n

counte

rvai

ling p

hiloso

phy, e

mpiri

cism

, was

als

o not

good fo

r det

erm

inin

g maj

or tr

uths.

PASCAL’S

RELIG

IOUS

AFFIL

IATI

ONS

• Though King Louis XIV deemed the Jansenists or radical Catholics heretical, Pascal was a firm Jansenist

• He wrote Écrit sur la signature du formulaire ("Writ on the Signing of the Form"), exhorting the Jansenists not to give in.

• The Roman- Catholic Church also deemed Jansenism heretical and this led to the French suppression of the movement in Port-Royal in 1661

Jansenism—theology and religion emphasizing original sin, human depravity, predestination, and divine grace.

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SIGNIF

ICAN

CE AND

DEATH

OF

PASCAL

•In

hon

or o

f his

sci

entifi

c co

ntrib

utions,

the

name

Pasca

l has

bee

n giv

en to

the

SI unit

of p

ress

ure,,

Pasca

l's tr

iangle

and P

asca

l's w

ager

stil

l bea

r his

name.

•In

166

2, P

asca

l's il

lnes

s bec

ame

wor

se, a

nd his

emot

ional

con

dition

had

sev

erel

y wor

sened

sin

ce h

is

sist

er´s

dea

th. I

n Par

is o

n August

18,

166

2, P

asca

l

wen

t into

con

vuls

ions.

He

died th

e nex

t mor

ning, h

is

last

wor

ds bei

ng "May

God

nev

er a

bandon

me,

" and

was

burie

d in th

e ce

met

ery

of S

aint-

Étie

nne-du-M

ont.

•An a

utopsy

per

form

ed a

fter h

is dea

th re

veal

ed p

roble

ms w

ith

his st

omac

h, org

ans,

and a

bdomen

. Des

pite th

e au

topsy

, the

cause

of h

is poo

r hea

lth w

as n

ever

pre

cisel

y det

erm

ined

.

SOURCES CITED• http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~mmk/Teaching/AI/l1.html

• http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/philosophers/pascal.html

• http://www.countingblocks.com/building-blocks/

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal's_calculator

• http://www.mathsisgoodforyou.com/artefacts/pascalstriangle.htm

• http://abundancesecrets.com/motivational-posters/index.php?item=1869791

• http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/theism/wager.html

• http://bccphilosophy08.blogspot.com/

• http://verydemotivational.memebase.com/?id=8744

• http://www.examiner.com/atheism-in-philadelphia/atheism-101-refuting-pascal-s-wager

• http://poundingheartbeat.com/2010/10/28/blaise-pascal-quotes-about-life/

• http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/h/heretic.asp

• http://weirdscience.ca/page/3/

• http://jpposters.com/Art/41296/Death-Mask-of-Blaise-Pascal-1662/1733254.html