James's working notes from Western Civ class

Table of Contents

Pascal, Vacuum

Summary

Pascal wrote about the vacuum. First he explained why the Ancients' opinion on the vacuum was not necessarily the correct one, and how he could posit another opinion without disrespecting them. He says that science is never finished; it is always being added to. Then he dives into experiments that had been done with vacuums, and various objections that people raised to them. He followed this up with detailed accounts of his experiments with vacuums, and a list of observations and maxims that he drew from them.