Jansenism was a Roman Catholic movement of the 17th and 18th centuries based on the teaching of the Dutch theologian Cornelius Jansen. Their belief in predestination brought them into conflict with the Jesuits and was condemned by the Church. Jansenists also argued that the effectiveness of the sacraments depended on the moral character of the person receiving them. One of the most famous Jansenists was Pascal. Research Jansenism
Anotnia Escobar y Mendoza was a Spanish casuist and Jesuit. He was born in 1589 and died in 1669. His principal works are Summula Casuum Conscientiae and several scriptural commentaries. He was severely criticised by Pascal, and the extreme laxity of his moral principles was ridiculed by Boileau, Moliere, and La Fontaine. Research Anotnia Escobar y Mendoza
Blaise Pascal was a French philosopher, theologian and mathematician. He was born in 1623 at Clermont-Ferrand and died in 1662. He was educated at Paris and Rouen by his father who was the President of the Court of Aids. Blaise Pascal's early mathematical genius is evident from his 1639 'Geometry of Conics'. Research Blaise Pascal
Baron Francois Pascal Gerard was a French historical and portrait-painter. He was born in 1770 at Rome and died in 1837. He went to Paris in 1786, and studied under David. In 1795 he exhibited his first notable painting, Belisarius. He was much patronized by Napoleon, for whom he painted the battle of Austerlitz, and was made a baron by Louis XVIII, after completing his large painting of the Entrance of Henry IV into Paris. Amongst his portraits the most famous are those of Talleyrand, Talma, Louis Philippe, Madame Recamier, etc. Research Francois Gerard
Henry V was Emperor of Germany. He was born in 1081 and died in 1125. The the son and successor of Henry IV of Germany, on his ascension the question of investiture distracted the empire anew. PopePascal would only confer the imperial crown upon condition that the rights claimed by Gregory should be formally conceded. Henry therefore seized the pope at the altar, and imprisoned him until he yielded two months later, and crowned Henry in April 1121.
Disturbances, however, arose in Germany, especially with Lothaire of Saxony, and the pope, declaring that his peace with the emperor had been compulsory, formented the strife. The war continued two years, and devastated Germany, and after a second expedition to Italy and excommunication by successive popes, Henry was compelled to yield in the matter of investiture, and in 1122 subscribed the Concordat of Worms. Henry was the last of the Salic or Frankish family of emperors, which was succeeded by the Suabian house. He married Matilda, a daughter of Henry I of England. Research Henry V of Germany
A barometer is a device for measuring atmospheric pressure and thus determining changes in the weather, the height of mountains, and other phenomena. The basic principle behind the barometer is the discovery in 1643 by Torricelli, that atmospheric pressure might be counterpoised by a column of mercury standing as high in proportion to the thirty-four feet that water in similar circumstances stands, as the specific gravity of water is to that of mercury. Pascal confirmed the conclusions of Torricelli in 1645; six years afterwards it was found by Perrier that the height of the mercury in the Torricellian tube varied with the weather; and, in 1665, Boyle proposed to use the instrument to measure the height of mountains. Various types of barometer have been invented, among the most common being the cistern barometer, Gay-Lussac's barometer and the aneroid barometer.
The common or cistern barometer, which is a modification of the Torricellian tube, consists of a glass tube 33 inches in length and about one-third of an inch in diameter, hermetically sealed at the top, and having the lower end resting in a small vessel containing mercury, or bent upwards and terminating in a glassbulb partly occupied by the mercury and open to the atmosphere. The tube is first filled with purified mercury, and then inverted, and there is affixed to it a scale to mark the height of the mercurial column, which comparatively seldom rises above 31 or sinks below 28 inches. In general the rising of the mercury presages fair weather, and its falling the contrary, a great and sudden fall being the usual presage of a storm. The weather-points on the ordinary barometric scale are as follows: - At 28 inches, stormy weather; 28.5, much rain or snow; 29, rain or snow; 29.5, changeable; 30 fair or frost; 30.5, settled fair or frost; 31. very dry weather or hard frost. Certain attendant signs, however, have also to be noted: thus, when fair or foul weather follows almost immediately upon the rise or fall of the mercury, the change is usually of short duration; while if the change of weather be delayed for some days after the variation in the mercury, it is usually of long continuance. The direction of the wind has also to be taken into account.
The siphon barometer consists of a bent tube, generally of uniform bore, having two unequal legs, the longer closed, the shorter open. A sufficient quantity of mercury having been introduced to fill the longer leg, the instrument is set upright, and the mercury takes such a position that the difference of the levels in the two legs represents the pressure of the atmosphere. In the best siphon barometers there are two scales, one for each leg, the divisions on one being reckoned upwards, and on the other downwards from an intermediate zero point, so that the sum of the two readings is the difference of levels of the mercury in the two branches.
The wheel barometer is the one that was most commonly used for domestic purposes before the computer age. It was far from being accurate, but it was often preferred for ordinary use on account of the greater range of its scale, by which small differences in the height of the column of mercury were more easily observed. It usually consisted of a siphon barometer, having a float resting on the surface of the mercury in the open branch, a thread attached to the float passing over a pulley, and having a weight as a counterpoise to the float at its extremity. As the mercury rose and fell the thread and weight turned the pulley, which again moved the index of the dial.
The mountain barometer was a portable mercurial barometer with a tripod support and a long scale for measuring the altitude of mountains. To prevent breakage, through the oscillations of such a heavy liquid as mercury, it was usually carried inverted, or it was furnished with a movable basin and a screw, by means of which the mercury could be forced up to the top of the tube. for delicate operations, such as the measurement of altitudes, the scale of the barometer was furnished with a nonius or vernier, which greatly increased the minuteness and accuracy of the scale. For the rough estimate of altitudes the following rule was sufficient: - As the sum of the heights of the mercury at the bottom and top of the mountain is to their difference, so is 52,000 to the height to be measured, in feet. In exact barometric observations two corrections require to be made, one for the depression of the mercury in the tube by capillary attraction, the other for temperature, which increases or diminishes the bulk of the mercury. In regard to the measurement of heights the general rule is to subtract the ten-thousandth part of the observed altitude for every degree of Fahrenheit above 32 degrees.
In the aneroid barometer, as its name implies (the name coming from the Greek a, not, neros, liquid), no fluid was employed, the action being dependent upon the susceptibility to atmospheric pressure shown by a flat circular metallic chamber from which the air had been partially exhausted, and which has a flexible top and bottom of corrugated metal plate. By an ingenious arrangement of springs and levers the depression or elevation of the surface of the box was registered by an index on the dial, by which means it was also greatly magnified, being given in inches to correspond with the mercurial barometer. Aneroids are, however, generally less reliable than mercurial barometers, with which they were recommended to be frequently compared. Research Barometer
BRIEF by Solution Systems Inc. is a highly flexible, full-screen editor and macro generator designed for use with dBase or high-level languages such as C, Pascal, and COBOL. You can customise the editor by reconfiguring your keyboard, changing the command functions, and creating new commands as needed. BRIEF for OS/2 runs in OS/ 2 protected mode to take advantage of that platform's multitasking and virtual memory support. It is fully compatible with the DOS version of BRIEF. The
BRIEF macro language is a structured programming language similar to C. The macro language can be programmed and must be compiled to run the commands you create. BRIEF has unlimited variables and an IF/THEN/ ELSE loop feature found only in high-level on-screen languages.
BRIEF lets you undo your last 300 commands including deletions, insertions, cursor movement, cut and paste, global replacement, and read of file. There is no limit to file size, the number of active files, or the number of windows on-screen.
Eureka from Borland International is a computer program that can solve any linear or non-linear equation and is designed for the person who frequently works with variables and unknowns in the business and scientific world.
Eureka's structured environment is perfect for the professional or technical person who may not have a broad understanding of numerical analysis techniques. After you enter an equation using Eureka's text editor, select the Solve command and Eureka will determine the values of the variables in equations.
Eureka solves the problem, graphs the solution, and creates a report including assumptions, graphs, and solutions. Eureka solves inequalities and performs automatic conversions for units of measure. The product includes built-in trigonometric, logarithmic, exponential, statistical, and financial functions. Eureka contains a powerful on-screen calculator that performs all one-variable arithmetic functions quickly and simply as if you were working with a scientific hand-held calculator.
Eureka's separate windows are dedicated to certain commands, making it easy to write, edit, and solve equations interactively. The full-screen editor, which is identical to those in SideKick and TurboPascal, uses standard ASCII syntax and editing commands. You can import equation files from other ASCII editors.
Eureka is well equipped to handle optimisation or linear programming problems. You can solve a system of equations based on certain constraints, such as maximising profits, creating the optimal product mix or creating the most efficient work schedule. Eureka includes a number of sample problems that range from determining probabilities in a card game to calculating payments on a car loan. There are specialised accounting functions that financial analysts will find useful for money- management. Research Eureka
Omnibus (Latin for 'for all') is the old term for a bus (public passenger carrying vehicle). The concept of a public conveyance of this nature is due to Pascal of Paris in 1662, and the name to Baudry of Nantes who came up with it in 1827. The first modern bus to make regular journeys was first introduced in Paris in 1828 and introduced to London by George Shillibeer in 1829 when one carrying twenty-two passengers ran from Paddington to the Bank, charging a fare of one shilling. The original London Omnibus was a single-decker coach drawn by three horses arranged side-by-side. In 1832 the Stagecoach Act was passed, allowing passengers to be taken up and put down in the streets, and numerous types of omnibus appeared. Research Omnibus
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Jansenism
