La dame d'esprit : a biography of the Marquise Du Châtelet / Judith P. Zinsser.

9780670038008
0670038008

New York : Viking, c2006.

English

viii, 376 p., [16] pages of plates : ill. ; 24 cm.

PQ1981.D55 Z98 2006

848/.509
48/.509

The only woman of the Enlightenment to be recognized for her genius, Gabrielle Emilie le Tonnelier de Breteuil was born to the highest circles of the French aristocracy, married a marquis at the age of eighteen, and indulged in all the pleasures of her class. Then, at 27, defying convention, she became the mistress of Voltaire, embarking on an extraordinary and transformative intellectual journey as his patroness, lover and companion. Historian Zinsser explores how she transformed herself from courtier, wife, and mother into one of the leading intellects of the French Enlightenment, an accomplished mathematician, physicist, translator, and author of original works of philosophy and science. At the end of her life, pregnant by a young new lover, she raced to complete her translation and commentary on Newton's Principia. By bringing this singular woman to life with style and wit, Zinsser at last gives this revolutionary her due.--From publisher description.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [352]-365) and index.

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