FREE ESSAY ON EMILIE DU CHATLET

EMILIE DU CHATLET

EMILIE DU CHATLET
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.
Bibliography
TITLE: Mme. Du Chatlet
PUBLISHER: Berg Publishers, Incorporated
PUB. DATE: March 1987
TITLE: ADA Byron Lovelace
PUBLISHER: Silver Burdett Press
PUB. DATE: July 1994
TITLE: Emmy Noether
PUBLISHER: Birkhauser Boston
PUB. DATE: October 1980
TITLE: The Great Mathematicians
PUBLISHER: Barnes and Noble Books
PUB. DATE: May 1993