Pascal essays

Pascal essays Another significant branch of mathematics that Pascal worked on during the 17th century was Probability. Probability deals with the odds of observing one of the several outcomes that can occur in an event. In Probability, an event is a single happening-sometimes called a trial- and an outcome is one of the possible results. For friends who gambled, he calculated the chance of loss or gain which led him to his probability theory. Pascal also came up with an arithmetical triangle known as Pascal's Triangle. This was an arrangement of numbers that were used to calculate binomial coefficients. It is constructed by adding to adjacent numbers in a line and putting their sums between them. Pascal was one of the most well-known mathematicians and physicist of his time and was a known writer of Christian literature. He reasoned that the worth of eternal happiness is infinite, and that the probability of gaining such happiness by religion may be small, but is a great deal superior than any other course of human conduct or belief. Pascal's most famous work, The Pensees, was a set of deeply personal meditations in a split outline on human suffering and faith in God. Pascal's Wager expresses that the conviction in the belief in God is rational. If God does not exist, one stands to lose nothing by believing in him anyway, while if he does exist, one stands to lose everything by not believing. On the night of November 23, 1654 a great change came over Pascal. He surrendered his life to Jesus Christ. At the age of 39, Pascal was in intense pain after a malignant growth in his stomach, which eventually spread to his brain. He no longer could bare the pain, and died suddenly on the night of August 19, 1622. Pascal's discoveries and experiments still help people today in their every day lives. He was an outstanding mathematician and physicist, who have left a significant impact in history. ...