| Edition |
First American edition. |
| Description |
373 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, portraits; 25 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages [295]-354) and index. |
| Contents |
Before -- Emilie: Paris and Versailles, 1706-1725 -- Francois: Paris and the Bastille, 1717-1725 -- Young Woman: Burgundy and Paris, 1727-1731 -- Exile and Return: London, 1726, to Paris, 1733 -- Meeting -- Meeting ... and Caution: Paris, 1733-1734 -- Hunted: Montjeu, Philippsburg, and Paris, 1734 -- Decision: Chateau de Cirey, and Paris, 1734-1735 -- Together -- Chateau de Cirey: Cirey, 1735+ -- Newton at Cirey: Chateau de Cirey, 1735-1736 -- Dutch Escape: Cirey and the Low Countries, 1736-1737 -- Michelle: Paris, late 1600s and 1737 -- Emilie's Cirey -- Voltaire's Fire: Cirey, March-August 1737 -- Emilie's Fire: Cirey, August 1737-May 1738 -- New Starts: Cirey, 1738 -- Travels -- Leibniz's World: Brussels, 1739 -- New House, New King: Paris, 1739 -- Frederick: Flanders and Prussia, 1740-1741 -- Apart -- The Wound in My Heart: Paris and Versailles, Mid-1740s -- Recovery ... and Escape: Paris, Versailles, and Fontainebleau, 1745-1747 -- To Sceaux: The Court, late 1670s; Paris and Chateau de Sceaux, November 1747 -- Zadig: Chateau de Sceaux, November-December 1747 -- Luneville -- The Court of Stanislas and Catherine: Luneville, 1748 -- Saint-Lambert: Luneville, 1748 -- Collapse: Luneville, 1748 -- Finale -- Pregnancy: Cirey and Paris, Christmas Eve 1748-April 1749 -- A Portal Unto the Stars: Lincolnshire, 1600s, and France, 1749 -- What Followed. |
| Summary |
"It was 1733 when the poet and philosopher Voltaire met Emilie du Chatelet, a beguiling - and married - aristocrat who would one day popularize Newton's arcane ideas and pave the way for Einstein's theories. In an era when women were rarely permitted any serious schooling, this twenty-seven-year-old's nimble conversation and unusual brilliance led Voltaire, then in his late thirties, to wonder, "Why did you only reach me so late?" They fell immediately and passionately in love." "Through the prism of their tumultuous fifteen-year relationship we see the crumbling of an ancient social order and the birth of the Enlightenment. Together the two lovers rebuilt a dilapidated and isolated rural chateau at Cirey where they conducted scientific experiments, entertained many of the leading thinkers of the burgeoning scientific revolution, and developed radical ideas about the monarchy, the nature of free will, the subordination of women, and the separation of church and state." "But their time together was filled with far more than reading and intellectual conversation. There were frantic gallopings across France, sword fights in front of besieged German fortresses, and a deadly burning of Voltaire's books by the public executioner at the base of the grand stairwell of the Palais de Justice in Paris. The pair survived court intrigues at Versailles, narrow escapes from agents of the king, a covert mission to the idyllic lakeside retreat of Frederick the Great of Prussia, forays to the royal gambling tables (where Emilie put her mathematical acumen to lucrative use), and intense affairs that bent but did not break their bond." "Along with its riveting portrait of Voltaire as a vulnerable romantic, Passionate Minds at last does justice to the supremely unconventional life and remarkable achievements of Emilie da Chatelet - including her work on the science of fire and the nature of light. Long overlooked, her story tells us much about women's lives at the time of the Enlightenment. Equally important, it demonstrates how this graceful, quick-witted, and attractive woman worked out the concepts that would lead directly to the "squared" part of Einstein's revolutionary equation: E=mc[superscript 2]." "Based on a rich array of personal letters, as well as writings from houseguests, neighbors, scientists, and even police reports, Passionate Minds is both panoramic and intimate in feeling. It is an unforgettable love story and a vivid rendering of the birth of modern ideas."--BOOK JACKET. |
| Subject |
Voltaire, 1694-1778 -- Relations with women.
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Du Châtelet, Gabrielle Emilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, marquise, 1706-1749.
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Authors, French -- 18th century -- Biography.
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Scientists -- France -- Biography.
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Mistresses -- France -- Biography.
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| ISBN |
0307237206 |
| Standard No. |
9780307237200 |
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