La dame d'esprit
Subtitle: a biography of the Marquise Du Châtelet
By: Judith P. Zinsser
Publisher: Viking
Published: 2006
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 376
ISBN-13: 9780670038008
Subjects: Du Châtelet, Gabrielle Emilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, -- marquise, -- 1706-1749; Authors, French -- 18th century -- Biography; Scientists -- France -- Biography; Feminists -- France -- Biography
Genres: Biography
Description: 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
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [352]-365) and index