Customer Reviews

Passionate Minds: Emilie du Chatelet, Voltaire, and the Great Love Affair of the Enlightenment

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If you want something to read that's more improbable and exciting than most fiction, this is an excellent choice. Steeped in history, lovingly researched and with strong scientific underpinnings, this is a book that will make you feel like you almost know Voltaire and wish you knew (and you will weep for) the amazing Emilie du Chatelet.

I am a teacher of high school physical science. This book is a superb read for teen girls interested in science or in the arts. The tale chronicles the life and loves of Mme. Émily DuChâtelet the translator of Newton's work, The "Principia", into French. She did much more than that; she actually made it intelligible. That is quite a feat if anyone has ever attempted to read Newton's work translated into English. Newton discovered calculus, used it to make his discoveries, then translated all the math back into the language of conics from Euclid and Appolonius - all geometry, not a variable in sight. Emily commented on the "Principia". She added a great deal of her own thinking, including the principle of conservation of energy, an idea not present in Newton's work. She also wrote works on calculus so others could understand Newton. Her translation used the modern notation of Leibnitz, not Newton's peculiar symbolisms. Her work was so strong that the next three generations of physicists were French, not English. Bodanis' work follows her interactions with Voltaire and mentions some of her scientific work. He does not go into details about the science. Bodanis elegantly describes her work and times with Voltaire. She is a much under-appreciated genius. This study is a most welcome volume for students of science. My high school students loved reading it.

No matter your bent, this has something for everyone. Do you like romance, scandal, tragedy, humor, science, math, philosophy or social histories? It's all in there. Quite tragically, Emilie has been relegated to the dust bin of history. If you've read Voltaire, you know him in a singular dimension if you haven't read and absorbed Emilie's indelible fingerprint on his life. One of the best books I read last year, it's a tragedy in that Emilie died too young and her work does not survive her. Who knows what contributions she made in mathematics and sciences? Truly, you may get the idea her intellect transcended that of her lover Voltaire and you might not be far wrong.

I can't believe this book only has one review! It's a great book.

As mentioned by other reviews, this book has it all: romance, science, history, culture... I highly recommend it! Having read it over two years ago now, I am now longing to read it again...

And as much as a cliche as it may sound, I believe it can be highly beneficial to gift this book to teenage girls interested in math and science. I have already given it to the little sisters of multiple friends, and they have absolutely loved it. In addition to giving them a wonderful female role model in science and math, they also get to learn about the Enlightenment, Voltaire, France, Germany, etc. So, on top of being inspiring, it's also very educational.

Loved this book! The subject matter is so rich and the characters are so dramatic and larger-than-life that it would have been easy to make this a (Gasp!) bodice ripper but luckily the material fell into the right hands. Emilie du Chatelet has been a fascination for me ever since I learned that she was the reason Voltaire understood Newton. I also think its cool that until quite late into the 20 century hers was the only French translation of the Principia. Thank you DB for bringing her to such glorious life.

Anyone who is interested in 18th century intellectual history will enjoy reading this book. This book is a biography of Emilie du Châtelet and also the story of her personal and intellectual relationship with Voltaire. Bodanis does a good job showing how different standards of behavior in 18th century France than what we're used to, like Voltaire's aristocratic friends turning their backs on him when he was beaten for overstepping his bounds and mocking a noble. I like the way Bodanis smoothly insert general facts into the story, like the difference between popular fiction in the 1600s and the novel form introduced in the 1700s.

Bodanis also writes precisely when he is talking about science, even though the book is mostly biographical rather than scientific. When he mentions Newton getting the idea for gravitation from seeing an apple drop, he explains that the question is that if gravity acts on apples high up in a tree, does it also act on planets even farther away? When he describes Voltaire's fears about dying, he writes about the specific reasons why lifespans were shorter at the time, thus making it clear why Voltaire thought he might be close to death when he was in his 40s.

This is a remarkably good book and I recommend that anyone interested in the the Enlightenment read it.