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| Prof. Kausik Gangopadhyay |
By Prof. Kausik Gangopadhyay
Blaise
Pascal, a gifted French mathematician and physicist of the seventeenth century,
was an interesting character. Working on his own, Pascal discovered most of the
Euclidean Geometry in his early adolescence. By his early teens, he invented a
calculating machine—with no less than 20 prototypes called “Pascalines” made—to
perform all four arithmetic operations. Unfortunately, prohibitively high
making cost of that device impeded the commercial success of this venture,
patented by Pascal. Far from being an exhaustive set of Pascal’s scientific
endeavours, these are merely illustrative of Pascal’s all-compassing genius!
The other
side of Pascal’s character was his deep religiosity. In fact, bidding science
adieu he turned to metaphysical pursuits at an early age of 31. The remaining eight
years, he dwelled on the Christian philosophy and lived a life of
“Renunciation, total and sweet”. This is
the time when he came up with a philosophical argument, now known as “Pascal’s
Wager”, which is a gambler’s take on the basic question: “God is, or He is not”. Unsurprisingly, Pascal was an avid gambler
for quite some time in his earlier life.
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