Blaise Pascal was a very clever, home educated genius who is responsible for a considerable amount of contributions to the world of science and literature. He was already corresponding with other notable French academics by the time he reached the age of sixteen on subjects as diverse as geometric shapes, probability factors and the social sciences.
As he moved into adulthood, he became interested in physics. He looked at the nature of pressure and vacuums and how they look for and against each other. This led to some of the most influential laws of physics that we still use today.
His work in fluids at the time is particularly interesting. It is Pascal we can thank for our modern understanding of hydraulics. He paved the way for the Hydraulic Power Pack that you can get from companies like Hydra Products. His experiments revolved around the use of hydraulics to create a press. In simple terms, he proved that the mass of the fluid was not the key to it working but the difference of the elevation. This meant that hydraulic projects could be guaranteed to work as long as they followed this principle.
It wasn’t all science and mathematics with Pasal. He also gave us the roulette wheel when he searched for a machine that could create perpetual motion. If he’d managed that, we’d have plenty of energy to spare!
