The Marquise Du Châtelet

  If you are like me, you read the name in the title and went "Who?"  This lady was listed as a woman who should be known in science but its another aspect of her that interested me.

The Marquise Du Châtelet born
Gabrielle Emilie le Tonnelier de Breteuil in Paris on December 17, 1706.  This is a time when wealthier women were expected to marry, run the house and bear heirs.  Its amazing that Gabrielle did this and so much more in her time.

She grew up in a traditional household of her time.  When she was 18, she married the Marquis Du Chatelet, a man with a title but little money.  Within a few years she'd produced two sons and a daughter while running the household and pursued traditional entertainments like the opera, etc.  But it was while she was pregnant with her second son that she picked up a mathematics book and began her road to studying and becoming fluent in the subject. 

Eventually, she studied Descartes Analytic Geometry with two of the leading mathematicians of the time.  All through the 1730's and 40's she continued to raise her children, run the house hold, read, study, and publish a few works.  She was even published by the Royal Academy of Sciences which for her time was extraordinary.   

She became pregnant again late in 1748 or early 1749, she worked hard to finish translating Isaac Newton's Principa into French because pregnancies late in life tended to result in death. She did not just translate Newton's work, she either corrected or completed many of his ideas so they are what we know today.

This work was published ten years after her death in 1759 and in time for Haley's comet.  Imagine, a woman in 18th century France who educated herself enough in mathematics that she could read, translate and understand all the concepts and mathematics involved in Newton's work.  That awed me so much.  I know how hard it is to translate from one language to another and get it so it means the same thing in both languages. Even in today's world, her translation is the only full version of Newton's work.

In many ways, she was typical of her time including having lovers outside of marriage.  One of her lovers - Voltaire - she was with for 15 years while the other fathered her last child.  Still, through it all, she wrote many papers, translated, and continued running her house for her husband. When she died in 1749, she was only 43 years old but she left her mark in a male focused world.

Thank you for letting me share this wonderful lady with everyone.  Let me know what you think, I"d love to hear.  Have a great day.