Saturday, November 19, 2011

Without a shadow of a doubt


I took this photo at the bottom of Tour Saint-Jacques, the tower they renovated recently and that I showed you several times (here, here, here and here!). You'd think this would be a statue of Saint Jacques, but... it is not. It's the one of Blaise Pascal, a famous French mathematician and philosopher who, among other things, invented in 1642, the first calculator (mechanical at that time, obviously...). Why is here there? Because he is said to have prevented the destruction of a church that was previously on these premises. BTW, around this tower, there is a little square, which apparently was the first square in Paris (1856).

15 comments:

  1. oh yes I remember the last 'here' pic as you were on your way to dinner with Marc and me! :-) nice memories of that night too! Great pic, love the statue and I have sat in that square too :-) xx

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  2. Sorry I missed the Golden Blog post. You know that we all give you the prize.

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  3. A very clever man by all accounts.
    There is an example of his calculator, called the 'Pascaline' in the Musee des art et Metiers.
    It was very expensive, was considered a toy for the rich and of course you couldn't slip it in your pocket. Only 20 were ever made.
    I suppose one must conclude that high cost of the Pascaline together with its lack of portability and poor marketing just didn't add up in the end.

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  4. Ha, ha, Drummond. I was thinking Ben Franklin too, brattcat!! I kept looking for his name in the lesson, but Eric surprised us with someone new! How very interesting. I wouldn't have thought that a calculator would have been developed so early. Amazing.

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  5. How funny, I immediately thought M Bonaparte, how wrong could I be haha! Beautiful silhouette and composition!

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  6. I just learned a lot. And got to enjoy this great composition at the same time—thanks, Eric!

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  7. Ooh la la! Sure to draw a crowd.

    Kris

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  8. classy shot...
    Some historic monuments are mysteries

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