Michael P. Farris, Esq.
Chairman &
General Counsel

Famous Home Schoolers: Blaise Pascal

Volume 11, Program 11 Airdate: March 8, 1999

Are there historical precedents that signify the value of home schooling? Join Mike Farris, president of the Home School Legal Defense Association, as he recounts the home education of the French mathematician, Blaise Pascal.

Mike:
Blaise Pascal was born in France in 1623 and educated by his father, Etienne. For some reason, his father decided not to teach his son mathematics until he reached the age of 15, but Blaise Pascal was gifted by God with a natural curiosity, and began to work on geometry by himself at age 12. His studies of geometry and hydrodynamics led him to invent the syringe and the hydraulic press.


However, Pascal was more than just a scientist. Later in life, a near-death experience caused him to write these words, which he eventually stitched into the lining of his jacket. He wrote: “Fire. The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. Not of the philosophers and intellects. The God of Jesus Christ. My God and your God. Forgetfulness of the world and everything except God.”


He is also known for the famous “Pascal’s Wager,” attempting to prove that belief in God is rational. It states: “If God does not exist, one will lose nothing by believing in Him; while if He does exist, one will lose everything by not believing.” He later went on to write Pensées, a philosophical collection of personal thoughts on human suffering and faith in God.


Blaise Pascal – another tribute to the success of home education.


I’m Mike Farris.

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