July 20, 1660

Sihui: Hi, Mr Pascal. Do I have the honour to interview you? I believe everyone will be delighted to read a transcript of an interview of such a great contributor to the society like Sir!

Blaise: I am honoured to be able to receive an interview from a student of such a great school in Singapore!

S: Thanks, Mr Pascal. Can you introduce yourself to the readers before we start the interview, please?

BP: Sure! I'm Blaise Pascal, 37 this year. I have a very strong interest in Mathematics and Physics, thanks to my father, Etienne Pascal who was my first teacher who led me into the world of numbers and the sciences.

S: Etienne Pascal? He sounds familiar..

BP: Maybe you've heard of him? He's the local judge and a member of a scientific committee.

S: Right! I remember him now, so your mother is... Antoinette Begon, am i right?

BP: Yes, and that's practically all I remember of my mother as she passed away when I was only three years old, leaving me a very shallow impression. However, my father really play a very important part in my life as without him, I would not be what I am now.

S: Is it true that there was a lot of unhappiness in your family after your father died in 1951? Can you describe the situation?

BP: Yes, I was in charge of both my sister, Jacqueline and the inheritance left by my father after he died. However, Jacqueline announced that she wanted to become a postulant and I was shocked as I needed her to take care of me.

S: Sorry to interrupt...pardon me from asking but I am rather curious why you needed Jacqueline's care and help so much at that time...is it okay to share?

BP: Sure, I was very weak and fall sick very easily so I needed my sister to stay by my side to take care of me.

S: I see,thank you. Please continue your story then.

BP: I tried my best to stop my sister from leaving but to no avail. I pleaded with her and even commanded her since I was in charge of her but she still insisted on leaving for Port-Royal. Eventually, we came to an agreement finally and I agreed despite still feeling very upset.

S: What was the conditions of the agreement?

BP: Jacqueline signed over her share of inheritance to me in return for a respectable annual stipend before she left for the convent.

S: So her share became yours?

BP: Yes but I signed her inheritance over to the convent soon after.

S: I see...,thanks for sharing about your family. Can you now tell us why you converted to Jansenism?

BP: I was suffering from a nervous ailment which left me in pain everyday and a paralytic attack also left me disabled and I could only move around with crutches. My head ached, my bowels burned and my legs and feet were continually cold. I required wearisome aids for better circulation of the blood and even wore stockings steeped in brandy to warm my feet.

S: Wow, it sounds serious!

BP: It is, and that is not all! It was before my father passed away and my sister was living in Paris at that time. I too, moved to Paris partly for better treatment but my nervous system was already permanently damaged and it affected me very seriously, both in my character and philosophy. I became very irritable and I no longer smile often.

S: But what has this got to do with your converting to Jansenism?

BP: Because after that, my father fell and broke his hip and the doctor said that it was very serious and could even be fatal. The two doctors attending to my father were both followers of Jansenius and they helped me through the 3 months of my father's treatment when I was still feeling down due to my illness, by teaching me about Jansenism beliefs which was very useful and thus, influenced me into converting.

S: I see then can you give us some examples of your great works?

BP: Sure, I've written several books such as 《Essai pour les coniques》，《Experiences nouvelles touchant le vide》，《Traité du triangle arithmétique 》，《Lettres Provinciales》,《De l'Esprit géométrique》and《Écrit sur la signature du formulaire》. I am currently writing the《Pensees》which will most probably be my last work but it have not been completed yet.

S: All right, thanks for sharing all about your background!

August 28, 1662

S: Hello Ms Jacqueline Pascal, you must be feeling very devastated over your brother's death now, are you sure you are willing to be interviewed?

J: Sure, 9 days had past, hasn't it? I've very much gotten over it, don't worry!

S: Ok! Can you first introduce to the readers the type of life your brother led?

J: Sure! When we were still young, our family was not one of the richest families in the Middle Ages but we weren't one of the poorest either, I suppose we were somewhere in the middle, where we can afford education for all the children in the family and equipments needed for experiments any of us did. When Blaise was 9 years old, my father sold his position as the second president for 65,665 livres and it allowed us to lead a more comfortable life in Paris after my father invested it in a government bond. However, about 7 years later, due to the Thirty Year War taking place then, Cardinel Richelieu who was the Chief Minister needed money urgently and forfeited the money on the government bonds. Thus, we were left with only 7300 livres then.

S: That's horrible! It must have been hard on your family, losing so much money all of a sudden!
J: Yes, that's right, it was quite a hard time. After that, my father fled from Paris due to his opposition towards Richelieu. Soon after, I performed in a children's play with Richelieu's presence and he liked the play very much and thus, pardoned my father, who was back in good graces after some time and was made the kings's commsioner of taxes. Then, our family past through the hard time finally and was back to the state of finance like when we were very young.

S: I see, by then it was the 1640s, wasn't it? (Jacqueline nods.) So was that when your brother invented the calculator?

J: Yes! My brother could not bear the sight of my father calculating and calculating all day long, tiring himself out and thus, wanted to ease his exhaustion. The calculator was named 'Pascaline' and was exhibited in several museums such as the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris and the Zwinger museum in Dresden, Germany.
It was not a very successful invention yet as it was too expensive to be sold in the market and it was not very effective yet as technology was very poor. However, it being a temporary failure did not matter much as it was at least a status symbol of the richer families in France who could afford it. Furthermore, my brother continued to improve on it and it became more and more successful. Over the years, he had built a total of 50 machines!

S: Wow, 50 is really a lot, isn't it? Your family must be really proud of his many inventions!

J: Of course! This particular invention did had a great success eventually!

S: Yes, you are right. It is not the only success of your brother,right?

J: Of course not! My brother had many many successes such as his final work of 'Pensées' that he did not manage to complete.

S: That is a masterpiece! I'm sure most people from Europe and a lot from other parts of the world had heard of it. I sure did! It was a really great work of philosophy that made history although it was not completed!

J: Yes, that's right, and that's why he's considered a success himself. Blaise only lived to the age of 39 and 2 months but he had invented many many new things in his lifetime which are important to the world although they might not be the best yet and his literature works on sciences, mathematics and philosophy are even better, why would our family not be proud of him?

S: I agree with you on him being a success himself! The whole world is proud of him, his inventions and his works!