Emilie Du Chatlet Essay, Research Paper

Born in Paris on December 17, 1706, Emilie du Chatlet grew up in a household

where the art of courting was the only way one could recieve a place in society.

During her early childhood, Emilie began to show great improvement in the area

of academics that soon she was able to convince her father that she needed

attention. She studied Latin, Italian and English. She also studied Tasso,

Virgil, Milton and other great scholars. In spite of her talents in the area of

languages, her true love was mathematics. Emilie’s cleverness was outstanding in

other areas as well. At the age of nineteen she married a man named Marquis du

Chatelet. Emilie had conquered the heart of Voltaire, one of most intriguing and

brilliant scholars of this time. As Voltaire notes "We long employed all

our attention and powers upon Leibniz and Newton; Mme du Chatelet attached

herself first to Leibniz, and explained one part of his system in a book

exceedingly well written, entitled Institutions de physique". However she

soon abandoned the work of Leibniz and applied herself to the discoveries of the

great Newton. She was extremely successful in translating his whole book on the

principals of mathematics into French. The years Emilie spent with Voltaire at

Cirey were some of the most productive years of her life. When there were no

guests both of them remained tied to their desks. In the spring of 1748, Emilie

met and fell in love with the Marquis de Saint-Lambert, a courtier and very

minor poet. This affair, however, did not destroy her friendship with Voltaire.

Even when he found out that she was carrying Saint-Lambert’s child, Voltaire was

there to support her. With the help of Voltaire and Saint-Lambert, she was able

to convince her husband that it was his child she was carrying. In early

September of 1749, she gave birth to a baby girl. As Voltaire describes it:

"The little girl arrives while her mother was at her writing desk,

scribbling some Newtonian theories, and the newly born baby was placed

temporarily on a quarto volume of geometry, while her mother gathered together

her papers and was put to bed". On September 10, 1749 she died suddenly at

the age of 43. As many authors note, during the course of her short life, Emilie

was a truly unique woman and scholar. Among her greatest achievements were her

Institutions du physique and the translation of Newton’s Principia, which was

published after her death along with a "Preface historique" by

Voltaire. Emilie du Chatelet was one of many women whose contributions have

helped shape the course of mathematics.