Too many people think this piece is dense! So here is some clarification.

The whole piece is a crack at Pascal, and I had not read that wikipedia article before writing this, so I have referred to the usual myths about him, including the one about him propounded by his sister!

I believe that it was Descartes who said that the only vacuum he could see in nature was in Pascal’s head! I think I read it in one of the chapters of Gallian, but that book has too many chapters for me to try and locate the exact source!