Gabrielle Émilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, Marquise du Châtelet was a French natural philosopher and mathematician during the early 1730s until her death in 1749.
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Emilie du Chatelet was born on December 17, 1706, in Paris.
Emilie du Chatelet Education
Emilie du Châtelet’s education has been the subject of much speculation, but nothing is known with certainty.
When Emilie du Chatelet was small, her father arranged training for her in physical activities such as fencing and riding, and as she grew older, he brought tutors to the house for her.
As a result, by the age of twelve Emilie du Chatelet was fluent in Latin, Italian, Greek and German and was later to publish translations into French of Greek and Latin plays and philosophy.
Emilie du Chatelet received education in mathematics, literature, and science.
Emilie du Chatelet Contributions
Emilie du Chatelet’s most recognized achievement is her translation of and commentary on Isaac Newton’s 1687 book Principia containing basic laws of physics. The translation, published posthumously in 1756, is still regarded as the standard French translation till today.
Emilie du Chatelet Philosophy
Emilie du Chatelet’s philosophical magnum opus, Institutions de Physique (Paris, 1740, first edition), or Foundations of Physics, circulated widely, generated heated debates, and was republished and translated into several other languages within two years of its original publication.
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Emilie du Chatelet Discoveries
Emilie du Chatelet’s commentary on Isaac Newton’s 1687 book Principia which contains the basic laws of physics includes a profound contribution to Newtonian mechanics—the postulate of an additional conservation law for total energy, of which kinetic energy of motion is one element. This led to her conceptualization of energy as such, and to derive its quantitative relationships to the mass and velocity of an object.
Emilie du Chatelet Pronunciation
SHA-te-let.
Emilie du Chatelet Beliefs
Emilie du Châtelet grappled with the philosophical relationships between the Cartesian, Leibnizian and Newtonian systems and unlike Voltaire, believed that good science needs metaphysical foundations.
Emilie du Chatelet Quotes
“If I were king, I would redress an abuse which cuts back, as it were, one half of human kind. I would have women participate in all human rights, especially those of the mind.”
“Let us be certain of who we want to be. Let us choose for ourselves our path in life, and let us try to strew that path with flowers.”
“It is the privilege of affection to see a friend in all the situations of his soul.”
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