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”.