Books : Pascal's Wager: The Man Who Played Dice with God
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by: James A. Connor
List Price: $24.95Amazon.com's Price: $18.21 You Save: $6.74 (27%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 230.2092
EAN: 9780060766917
ISBN: 0060766913
Label: HarperOne
Manufacturer: HarperOne
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 240
Publication Date: October 01, 2006
Publisher: HarperOne
Release Date: October 17, 2006
Sales Rank: 293075
Studio: HarperOne
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
In a major biography of Blaise Pascal, James Connor explores both the intellectual giant whose theory of probability paved the way for modernity and the devout religious mystic who dared apply probability to faith. A child prodigy, Pascal made essential additions to Descartes's work at age sixteen. By age nineteen, he had invented the world's first mechanical calculator. But despite his immense contributions to modern science and mathematical thinking, it is Pascal's wager with God that set him apart from his peers as a man fully engaged with both religious and scientific pursuits.
One night in 1654, Pascal had a visit from God, a mystical experience that changed his life. Struggling to explain God's existence to others, Pascal dared to apply his mathematical work to religious faith, playing dice with divinity: he argued for the existence of God, basing his position not on rigorous logical principles as did Aquinas or Anselm of Canterbury, but on outcomes—his famous wager. By applying to the existence of God the same rules that governed the existence and position of the universe itself, Pascal sounded the death knell for medieval 'certainties' and paved the way for modern thinking.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - A Great Mind Looking for a Heart
PASCAL'S WAGER: The Man Who Played Dice With God.
By James A. Connor, Harper Collins Publishers, 2006]
James Connor has given us the opportunity to enter the physical space and place of 1588-1670 France. He brings classic and substantive insight into the provincial and fomenting social mores of these times: the militancy and corruption of the papacy; the intrusive and diminishing ideology of Aristotelian philosophy; and, the deepening schism in the Catholic Church and monarchies ... Read More
Rating: - A wonderful little book about physics and faith
As an engineer I had studied all about Pascal's products, the conic sections, the vacuum, and the probability studies. However, until I read this book never could have imagined the sad and inspirational story behind the genius, Blaise Pascal. It is written in short readable chapters that give you a vivid picture on the 17th century in which he lived. The book gives a spectacular vision of the beginning of science as we know it in the 21st century. It also examines the conflict of one man between ... Read More
Rating: - Interesting fellow, interesting times, interesting intersection of science and religion.
This fairly short (216 pages) book centers around the central dilemma of Blaise Pascal's, the 17th century math prodigy's, life philosophy: How to reconcile his austere view of life as should be lived by a creation of God with his obvious love of math, science, and worldly ideas. Another hundred pages could have been used to flesh out Pascal's writings and scientific ideas so that the reader could make more of his own decision about him. Instead the author has chosen to present his own thesis for acceptance ... Read More
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