Gambling with Faith

Friends I bring you a new revelation that will shine a light to the religion of Christianity. I come forward to you with a wager that will determine your salvation. The question is it safer to believe in God though there is no proof that he exists? “If there is a God, He is infinitely incomprehensible, since, having, neither parts nor limits, He has no affinity to us. We are then incapable of knowing either what He is or if He is ... you must wager. Which will you choose then? "I tell you that your best bet is that he exists. I tell you that the possibility of God existing is one half; it is simply that he exists or he does not exist. If you believe that God exists and you are right and you will be rewarded with an eternity in heaven. However, if you believed in God and he does not exist you will have lost nothing. Also, if YOU were wrong to not believe in God you will suffer eternal damnation. Therefore the better bet is that he exists. Even though the probability of God’s existence is one half “there is an eternity of life and happiness” to gain. Even If the chance of God’s existence is surprisingly small there is “an infinity of an infinitely happy life to gain.” This reward is so great that it is very foolish of you to neglect in playing this wager. Now friends, after what I said I leave it all to you to gamble your faith with Christianity.

The War Coming to an End

The time has finally come for the European powers to cease fighting. The war initially began with an ongoing fight with militant Catholicism and militant Calvinism. The Habsburg emperors wanted to enforce their authority in the Holy Roman Emperor however their desire is being resisted by the princes. The Habsburg emperors looked to Spain for help while the princes looked to France and enemies of Spain for help. The nobles elected a man named Ferdinand as their king, but the Protestant nobles dislike him as he pursued Catholic reforms. The protestant nobles took control of Bohemia and excused Ferdinand and in his stead they elected Frederick V. Ferdinand refused to be succeeded and defeated Frederick and the Bohemian nobles. At the same time the Spanish began to attack the Dutch. King Christian IV of Denmark stepped in to fight for the Protestant cause but he was defeated by the army of Ferdinand under the command of Albrecht von Wallenstein.  In 1630 the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus entered the fray.  His army was well disciplined and well trained and because of this he was able to defeat north Germany and move into the south. Unfortunately here at the battle of Lutzen, King Gustavus was killed. His army was easily routed. Finally the French entered the fight but supported the Protestant Swedes.  The French defeated the Spanish and had many successful victories throughout southern Germany.  Finally the Peace of Westphalia ends the war and France gains parts of Western Germany, Alsace, and the cities of Metz, Toul, and Verdun.  With this peace we can once again enjoy our lives in France without fear of attack.

The Pascaline!!!

Success! Finally my little trinket is complete; this trinket I believe will revolutionize mathematics. Today I was given a patent by Louis XIV on my calculating device in which I called the Pascaline.  I had spent three painstaking years in perfecting my machine and in that time period I had created around fifty different prototypes. What is this machine I created you might ask? The Pascaline is arithmetic machine that is capable of adding and subtracting. I initially invented it to help my father with collecting taxes, then I started refining it and one thing led to another until it was finally complete. Basically, the Pascaline had eight movable dials that is capable of adding up to eight figured long sums. If the first dial is moved ten notches the second dial would move one notch to show that the column is reading ten. Essentially each dial represents decimal values such as the one, tens, and hundreds and so on. Each dial is labeled with digits 0 through 9. To select the digit you would need to place a stylus in the corresponding spoke and turn the dial. The principle of my design is the sautoir which is the center piece of the machine. With this the wheels are able to move with ease. The Pascaline is being manufactured now as you read this and it will be available for purchase soon. I price has not been set but I will try to make it affordable. I could feel your anticipation with the arrival of this machine I only hope that it would prove to be beneficial.

Begining of the Scientific Method

During the seventeenth century science is becoming popular. Major universities have begun to create new chairs of science and patronage has increased. One important idea to science was the development of a scientific method. Francis Bacon is a lawyer and Lord Chancellor. His The Great Instauration wanted scientists to recreate science on proper foundations because he did not approve of the works of Kepler, Copernicus, and Galileo. He then created his view of the scientific method which is based on inductive reasoning. He believes that scientists should begin from the particular then approach to the general. Furthermore he believes that carefully organized experiments as well as detailed observations will lead to a correct generalization.  He believed that science is when “human life be endowed with new discoveries and power’, thus showing human domination of nature. Descartes was a philosopher, mathematician, and physicist.  Descartes experienced a mystical feeling that led to the development of a new rational-mathematical system. His famous work was the Discourse on Method. In his work he shows principles that he believes can help human beings understand the world. He also brought in the idea of separation of mind and matter. This idea led to the Cartesian dualism where human reason coupled with mathematics is the prime essentials in understanding the world.  Rene Descartes contribution to the Scientific method is his belief that one can start with facts and create more complex solutions. He emphasized deduction and mathematics. Bacon’s empiricism and Descartes’ rationalism led to the creation of the scientific method. This method uses observations and experiments to arrive at general concepts in which new deductions can be tested.

Autobiography

             I am Blaise Pascal and I was born in Clermont-Ferrand, France on June 19, 1623. My mother had died when I was three and as a result my father raised me and my two sisters Gilberte and Jacqueline.  My father, who was a judge in Clermont, saw great potential in my education.  As a result we moved to Paris.  My father then became my teacher believing that he can give me a good education. He initially taught me about the study of languages and did not want me to learn math. In fact, he avoided my questions concerning mathematics. This excited my curiosity and I began to draw geometrical shapes on the ground. In the midst of this I soon realized that the interior angles of a triangle add up to the sum of two right angles! My father became really impressed and gave me a book of Euclid's Elements in which I avidly read. I was then introduced to the study of mathematics and I was even taken into a society of mathematicians known as Académie libre. At the meeting members discussed topics on math and science. Here I was able to collaborate with famous mathematicians such as the great Descartes.

                When I turned 16 I finished my essay on conic sections and published it. Two years later I invented a beautiful arithmetic machine which I called the Pascaline. This little trinket was able to add and subtract.  This machine used eight movable dials that added up to eight long sums while using the base of ten.  In 1646, my father injured his hip and he called two Jansenist bonesetters. When they arrived I learned of their beliefs and discovered it was similar to my own. I then began to follow the doctrines of their religion. At the same year I began to do experiments involving physics.  I was shown an experiment in which a tube filled with mercury is turned upside down in a bowl that is also filled with mercury. The mercury would fall at a certain point and it would then cease. This was meant to show that the pressure of the atmosphere can be estimated as a weight. This idea fascinated me and I replicated this experiment at different altitudes on the hill of Puy-de-Dôme. The results of this I published as the treatise of the vacuum.

                In 1651, I experienced a severe loss in my life. My only mentor, my father had passed away.  I then had to administer my father’s estate. I continued on with my experiments and invented the arithmetic triangle. Together with a man named Fermat we created the calculus of probabilities. On November 23, 1654 I experienced a near death experience when the hoses of my four-in-hand ran away.  I was saved when the reigns broke.  This event inspired me to write about the details of my experience on a piece of paper which I wore by my heart. I began to commit myself to god. I am currently drafting a book known as the Pensees which my goal is to show the connection of Christianity and reason. Furthermore I am planning to write “an apology for the Christian Religion”.