At 19, the prodigy Pascal invented an early example of a digital calculator, the "Pascaline". His research and studies swept across the fields of hydrodynamics, geometry, and he laid the initial foundation for the study of probablilty.

The Pensees represent a philosophical contribution to the field of ethics. The book is a collection of personal thoughts on the human condition and one's faith in God. Pascal's belief can be summarised by this idea:

"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."

Pascal died young and his last work was a study of the "cycloid", the curve traced by a point on the circumference of a rolling circle. Is it any wonder he's a natural at cosmic baseball?