Émilie du Châtelet

Émilie du Châtelet (1706–1749) was a French mathematician, physicist, and writer whose French translation and commentary on Newton’s Principia helped establish Newtonian physics in France.

Voltaire: Voltaire was a French writer and philosopher of the Enlightenment. Du Châtelet collaborated with Voltaire at Cirey and helped shape his understanding of Newtonian science.
Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica: Isaac Newton’s 1687 work sets out laws of motion and universal gravitation in mathematical form. Its arguments and technical language became the subject of her French translation and commentary.
French translation of the Principia: Du Châtelet’s French translation of Newton’s Principia, published posthumously in 1759 with her commentary. It supplied French readers with a complete translation and extensive explanation of Newton’s work.
Institutions de physique: Du Châtelet’s 1740 textbook presenting natural philosophy through contemporary mathematical and philosophical ideas. This work introduced readers to physics before her later Principia translation.
Isaac Newton: Isaac Newton was an English mathematician and physicist who formulated the laws of motion and universal gravitation. His Principia was the central work she translated and explained for French readers.
Newtonian mechanics: The framework describing motion through Newton’s laws and universal gravitation. Her translation helped make this framework accessible to French scholars.
Institutions of Newtonian science in France: The adoption and development of Newtonian physics among French scholars during the eighteenth century. Her writing helped shift French scientific discussion toward Newtonian explanations.
Dissertation sur la nature et la propagation du feu: Du Châtelet’s 1739 essay on the nature and propagation of fire, submitted to the French Academy of Sciences’ prize competition. It shows her engagement with experimental questions and contemporary theories of heat.
Pierre Louis Maupertuis: Pierre Louis Maupertuis was a French mathematician and astronomer who helped introduce Newtonian ideas to France. His Newtonian advocacy formed part of the scientific circle in which du Châtelet worked.
Cartesian vortex theory: A cosmological theory in which vortices of subtle matter carry planets around the Sun. It was a prominent rival to Newton’s account of planetary motion in France.

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