The Pascaline, an early digital calculator invented by Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal was the quintessential Renaissance man. After all, how many people have a computer language, a religious argument, a triangle, a mathematical theorem, a law of physics and a unit of pressure named after them? Here was a man who could not only pose a philosophical wager, but also invent the system for calculating its odds and a digital calculator with which to tally the results.
It is unusual for a prodigy to stray so widely and successfully from their first area of excellence, but, as Pascal put it, “The heart has its reasons that reason knows nothing of.”
NASA spin-off technologies find their way into our lives in unexpected ways. Shock-absorbing memory squeezed its way into Tempur-Pedic mattresses, football helmet padding, shoe insoles, hospital beds, prosthetics, cars, amusement parks and modern art, while an invention designed to decrease airplane drag made a huge splash in the competitive swimming arena. Find out how as I answer the question…
Why did NASA invent the ribbed swimsuit?
