WEBVTT - The Mind of Émilie du Châtelet (Part 2) 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:04.600 Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim 0:00:04.640 --> 0:00:07.880 and Mild from Aaron Manky. Listener discretion advised. 0:00:09.640 --> 0:00:12.680 Hi, this is Danish Schwartz and just one quick personal 0:00:12.760 --> 0:00:14.880 note before we begin. If you are listening to this 0:00:15.000 --> 0:00:20.159 episode on its release day, next Tuesday, May nineteenth is 0:00:20.200 --> 0:00:24.840 the release of my newest book, The Arcane Arts. It's 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:28.920 called The Arcane Arts. It's by pseudonym nom de plume 0:00:29.480 --> 0:00:33.040 SD coverly because I co wrote this book with my 0:00:33.120 --> 0:00:37.199 friend Dan Frye. We alternated perspectives. I wrote the female 0:00:37.240 --> 0:00:39.480 point of view, he wrote the male point of view. 0:00:39.520 --> 0:00:42.280 We went back and forth. It's a very fun novel. 0:00:42.360 --> 0:00:46.440 It is about a elite graduate school, a murder mystery, 0:00:46.640 --> 0:00:51.400 a secret society, sexy forbidden magic. It is slightly sexier. 0:00:51.440 --> 0:00:53.120 So if you are a younger reader, this is not 0:00:53.240 --> 0:00:56.240 the book for you. But adult readers, I really think 0:00:56.240 --> 0:01:00.560 you will enjoy The Arcane Arts. I definitely enjoyed writing it. 0:01:00.600 --> 0:01:04.760 And after today's episode there will be a preview of 0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:08.360 the audiobook of The Arcane Arts, so you can just 0:01:08.600 --> 0:01:11.680 listen see if you think it's something you like. Thank 0:01:11.720 --> 0:01:16.200 you so much for your support and letting me be 0:01:16.360 --> 0:01:18.399 a writer for a Living which means the world to me. 0:01:19.040 --> 0:01:28.160 Let's jump into today's episode. One evening, sweating in the 0:01:28.280 --> 0:01:32.640 early summer heat of the French countryside, Emily du Chatlas 0:01:32.880 --> 0:01:37.920 was observing the fire in the estate's massive iron furnace. 0:01:38.600 --> 0:01:43.480 By her side was Voltaire, her lover, collaborator and full 0:01:43.560 --> 0:01:49.040 time HouseGuest. This was not a romantic outing for the 0:01:49.160 --> 0:01:53.440 couple while they gazed into the fire. Instead, they were 0:01:53.520 --> 0:01:58.960 attempting to recreate the experiments of the Dutch scientist Peter 0:01:59.240 --> 0:02:04.560 von Muschen to discern the nature of fire. Although perhaps 0:02:04.640 --> 0:02:08.520 that was their idea of a date night, The two 0:02:08.800 --> 0:02:14.119 had instructed the iron Master to melt various metals. They 0:02:14.160 --> 0:02:20.519 took notes as hundreds of pounds of lead and iron transformed. 0:02:19.720 --> 0:02:23.360 Before their eyes. For Voltaire, their. 0:02:23.280 --> 0:02:29.520 Experiment clearly proved Newton's theory that fire was matter and 0:02:29.680 --> 0:02:34.200 therefore subject to gravity. Emilee, however, was shocked that they 0:02:34.240 --> 0:02:39.840 could look at the same results and reach such different conclusions. 0:02:40.440 --> 0:02:46.400 She noted the experiment produced disparate outcomes. While melted iron 0:02:46.600 --> 0:02:51.680 maintained its essential nature and weight, when cooled lead became 0:02:51.800 --> 0:02:57.480 a powder and gained weight. We now understand this process 0:02:57.600 --> 0:03:02.760 as calcination, the lead was converted to an oxide at 0:03:02.800 --> 0:03:07.000 the temperature of the furnace, but such a concept had 0:03:07.040 --> 0:03:12.840 not yet entered the eighteenth century lexicon. The shifts in weight, 0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:17.480 Emily argued, were not due to fire possessing its own 0:03:17.520 --> 0:03:21.520 weight and being added to the metals, but rather due 0:03:21.600 --> 0:03:26.799 to the inherent qualities of the materials being burnt. To her, 0:03:27.080 --> 0:03:30.639 it was clear that fire did not share the same 0:03:30.720 --> 0:03:36.040 defining characteristics of other forms of matter. Today, we understand 0:03:36.200 --> 0:03:40.600 fire as a chemical reaction rather than a distinct state 0:03:40.680 --> 0:03:44.760 of matter. While Emily did not actually reach that conclusion, 0:03:45.120 --> 0:03:51.000 she was correct in rebutting Newton and Voltaire's assessment. She 0:03:51.160 --> 0:03:54.960 must have tried to convince Voltaire of her perspective, but 0:03:55.080 --> 0:03:59.080 he was stubborn in his belief and continued to attempt 0:03:59.240 --> 0:04:03.480 various experiments that he believed would prove him right. He 0:04:03.640 --> 0:04:07.080 needed to be correct because his results would form the 0:04:07.120 --> 0:04:11.320 basis of his entry to the Royal Academy of Sciences 0:04:11.720 --> 0:04:18.360 seventeen thirty eight essay competition. Voltaire had been long snubbed 0:04:18.560 --> 0:04:23.359 by the Royal Literary Society and was perhaps turning to 0:04:23.520 --> 0:04:28.040 these sciences for more recognition that he felt he deserved. 0:04:28.640 --> 0:04:30.720 The topic that year for the. 0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:35.599 Competition was the Nature and Propagation of Fire, and the 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:39.719 competition was the reason the pair began their experiments in 0:04:39.760 --> 0:04:45.720 the first place. Originally intending to act solely as Voltaire's assistant, 0:04:46.240 --> 0:04:51.640 Emilie was so determined to communicate the true results that 0:04:51.960 --> 0:04:56.560 she decided to write her own entry. She later confessed 0:04:56.640 --> 0:04:59.440 to a friend that she only began writing her paper 0:04:59.760 --> 0:05:03.520 to two weeks before the deadline, and included a modest 0:05:03.720 --> 0:05:07.359 disclaimer at the end of the entry quote, I hope 0:05:07.400 --> 0:05:10.120 that my love for the truth will stand for me 0:05:10.279 --> 0:05:14.520 in place of eloquence, and that the sincere desire that 0:05:14.600 --> 0:05:18.960 I have to contribute to knowledge will gain forgiveness for 0:05:19.040 --> 0:05:24.720 my faults end quote. She submitted her entry anonymously and 0:05:24.920 --> 0:05:28.840 only told Voltaire that she submitted at all after the 0:05:28.880 --> 0:05:30.280 winner was announced. 0:05:30.720 --> 0:05:31.800 They both lost. 0:05:32.600 --> 0:05:37.520 Though she feared he might react negatively, he was seemingly 0:05:37.640 --> 0:05:41.599 quite pleased, campaigning for both of their papers to be 0:05:41.760 --> 0:05:47.520 published despite losing. Born for the arts of pleasing, he 0:05:47.640 --> 0:05:52.719 once wrote of her, she prefers the truth. Emily's paper, 0:05:53.080 --> 0:05:57.480 Dissertation on the Nature and Propagation of Fire, was published 0:05:57.520 --> 0:06:01.760 in seventeen thirty nine for its intellectual merit. It became 0:06:02.040 --> 0:06:07.000 the first work the Academy published by a woman. Emilie 0:06:07.120 --> 0:06:11.240 still insisted on anonymity, although the author would have been 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:14.919 clear to those in the right circles. The essay was 0:06:15.040 --> 0:06:19.880 ultimately attributed to quote a young lady of high rank. 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:24.360 By the time her essay was published, Emily was already 0:06:24.440 --> 0:06:28.480 finishing work on what is now considered her magnum opus, 0:06:29.080 --> 0:06:33.760 Institutions de Physique. While part one of this two part 0:06:33.880 --> 0:06:38.520 series introduced you to Emily, part two will explore in 0:06:38.600 --> 0:06:43.320 more depth her short but impactful intellectual career before she 0:06:43.480 --> 0:06:49.200 tragically passed away in seventeen forty nine. Famous during her 0:06:49.320 --> 0:06:55.440 time lost behind Voltaire's shadow and history, and now honored 0:06:55.480 --> 0:07:01.719 once again, Emilie's legacy ultimately belongs to her achievements. As 0:07:01.760 --> 0:07:06.400 described by the Academy, she was quote a young woman 0:07:06.560 --> 0:07:10.560 of the first condition, who honors our sciences by the 0:07:10.680 --> 0:07:14.960 taste she has for them. I'm Danish warts and this 0:07:15.160 --> 0:07:20.600 is noble blood. When we last left Emily, it was 0:07:20.680 --> 0:07:24.119 the summer of seventeen thirty five, and she had made 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:28.720 the decision to leave Paris to join Voltaire at Sirae 0:07:29.040 --> 0:07:34.120 the du Chalet estate in Champagne, outside of the city. Voltaire, 0:07:34.280 --> 0:07:37.400 if you recall, had gotten into trouble with the government 0:07:37.600 --> 0:07:41.160 yet again, and Emily and her husband were given the 0:07:41.240 --> 0:07:44.920 right to sequester him outside of the city in sort 0:07:44.960 --> 0:07:49.400 of a glamorous house arrest. Emily was known to follow 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:53.160 her own path, but she still worried about both public 0:07:53.200 --> 0:07:57.920 opinion and the opinion of her husband in making such 0:07:58.000 --> 0:08:03.320 an unorthodox choice in joining her lover. While her husband, 0:08:03.360 --> 0:08:06.720 the Marquis, was not known to be jealous and had 0:08:06.960 --> 0:08:11.960 just recently used his status to advocate for Voltaire, Emily 0:08:12.440 --> 0:08:17.720 was moving in with another man. Writing to a mutual friend, 0:08:18.120 --> 0:08:23.080 she asked him to assuage her husband's potential doubts. Quote, 0:08:23.640 --> 0:08:27.520 just speak to him of Voltaire, but with interest and affection, 0:08:28.080 --> 0:08:31.320 and above all, try to insinuate that it would be 0:08:31.520 --> 0:08:34.640 crazy to be jealous of a wife with whom one 0:08:34.920 --> 0:08:40.640 is content, that one esteems, and who conducts herself well. 0:08:40.679 --> 0:08:45.920 Emily du chatelas pioneering woman in philosophy, and considering that 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:51.560 Voltaire was in fact her lover gaslighting her husband agreed 0:08:51.720 --> 0:08:55.800 with her assessment. When he began to deliver his wife's 0:08:55.880 --> 0:09:00.760 manuscripts from Siree to Parisian publishers. He did the same 0:09:01.000 --> 0:09:05.720 for Voltaires. On leave from a campaign. Her husband spent 0:09:05.840 --> 0:09:10.560 the winter of seventeen thirty eight in Siree, cohabitating with 0:09:10.679 --> 0:09:15.640 his wife and her famous lover. Despite his lack of showmanship, 0:09:16.040 --> 0:09:20.120 he participated in the plays and operas the couple frequently 0:09:20.200 --> 0:09:26.439 staged for friends. As for the public's opinion, newspapers painted 0:09:26.520 --> 0:09:30.680 the pair as artist and muse, which was a more 0:09:30.840 --> 0:09:38.040 acceptable arrangement than extramarital paramours. Gossip, of course, still persisted. 0:09:39.120 --> 0:09:42.640 A year after Emily arrived at the estate, she wrote 0:09:42.800 --> 0:09:48.600 to the Italian philosopher Francesco Agarat, saying, quote, my kingdom 0:09:48.760 --> 0:09:53.160 of Siree is not of this world. This was true 0:09:53.200 --> 0:09:59.040 in multiple ways. Siree, for better and for worse, isolated 0:09:59.080 --> 0:10:03.480 her from socie society. Voltaire acknowledged that she made a 0:10:03.600 --> 0:10:07.680 sacrifice when she chose to live by his side, writing 0:10:07.720 --> 0:10:11.440 that she was quote someone who had done everything for me, 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:16.720 who for me left Paris, all her friends and all 0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:20.920 of the charms of life end quote. While Emily no 0:10:21.000 --> 0:10:25.120 longer had access to the pleasures of society, she also 0:10:25.280 --> 0:10:30.239 was free from many of society's restrictions. There were inevitable 0:10:30.520 --> 0:10:34.440 trade offs. Emily had more time to devote herself to 0:10:34.480 --> 0:10:37.600 her studies than she would have in Paris, but she 0:10:37.679 --> 0:10:42.120 was now also responsible for overseeing a country estate and 0:10:42.240 --> 0:10:48.880 its tenants siree. As a home was in disrepair, needing constant, 0:10:49.000 --> 0:10:53.439 expensive upkeep. She bemoaned the sort of housework that had 0:10:53.480 --> 0:10:58.120 been designated to women, in this case, specifically wealthy women 0:10:58.160 --> 0:11:03.080 who owned estates of quote the pointlessness of life She 0:11:03.120 --> 0:11:06.280 could have avoided quote if I had been a man. 0:11:07.360 --> 0:11:10.199 That was in a letter to her tutor Montpertuis. 0:11:10.679 --> 0:11:11.720 At least at sirey. 0:11:11.920 --> 0:11:14.680 She no longer had to wait for him outside of 0:11:14.800 --> 0:11:19.800 male only cafes for philosophical discussion at the estate. He 0:11:20.080 --> 0:11:25.880 would come to her siree. The estate became Emily's intellectual haven. 0:11:26.400 --> 0:11:30.800 In her words moun academie. She meant that semi literally, 0:11:31.240 --> 0:11:36.040 sire began to host fellow intellectuals, such as Montpertuis, who 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:39.520 stayed for extended periods of time to work on his 0:11:39.640 --> 0:11:44.160 own projects. As a hostess, Emily did not play the 0:11:44.240 --> 0:11:48.800 role of the traditional noble woman. Guests were expected to 0:11:49.000 --> 0:11:55.400 fall into her and Voltaire's established routine. For less intellectually 0:11:55.440 --> 0:12:01.800 inclined visitors, such as the Marquis's cousin, Madame Graffigner, this 0:12:01.960 --> 0:12:07.960 could be intimidating. Graffignier noted she studied Locke in preparation 0:12:08.240 --> 0:12:12.480 for her stay. According to her, guests were summoned in 0:12:12.559 --> 0:12:16.880 the morning to Voltaire's rooms, where he or Emily would 0:12:16.920 --> 0:12:21.400 read aloud for an hour and a half. One morning, 0:12:21.520 --> 0:12:25.840 Emily read a book that proposed the inhabitants of Jupiter 0:12:26.400 --> 0:12:30.280 must be as large as King Ogg of the Old 0:12:30.480 --> 0:12:36.679 Testament based on distance and light. Graffignyi was quote astonished 0:12:37.040 --> 0:12:40.400 when she noticed the book Emily was reading from was 0:12:40.600 --> 0:12:45.559 in Latin. Emily had been translating the text out loud 0:12:45.720 --> 0:12:49.200 into French on the spot and was making her own 0:12:49.320 --> 0:12:53.679 calculations in real time to describe the size of the 0:12:53.960 --> 0:12:59.559 mythical giant. Thanks to visiting friends making deliveries, Emily and 0:12:59.640 --> 0:13:04.280 Voltail began to build their library. For Emily, this was 0:13:04.360 --> 0:13:09.360 an opportunity to pursue studies in new fields, to discover 0:13:09.559 --> 0:13:12.480 the knowledge that had been denied to her through a 0:13:12.559 --> 0:13:18.680 lack of secondary education. Quote, I have a very pretty library, 0:13:19.200 --> 0:13:24.400 she wrote to Algarotti quote Voltaire's is all anecdotes and 0:13:24.600 --> 0:13:29.199 mine is all philosophy. In this letter, she was enticing 0:13:29.320 --> 0:13:34.440 the Italian philosopher to quote spend the winter philosophizing with us, 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:39.240 and he accepted the invitation. It was during his six 0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:42.800 weeks stay that he worked on his quote Newton for 0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:47.560 the Ladies, an introduction to Newton's work portrayed as a 0:13:47.600 --> 0:13:51.360 conversation between the author and a woman who took some 0:13:51.600 --> 0:13:57.559 inspiration from Emilie herself. More on this Italian philosopher later. 0:13:58.679 --> 0:14:04.400 Sire's growing library, its collection of Locke and Newton in particular, 0:14:04.960 --> 0:14:10.600 was responsible for Emily's growing interest in natural philosophy. While 0:14:10.679 --> 0:14:16.000 it was surely Voltaire who acquired Mandeville's Fable of the Bees, 0:14:16.600 --> 0:14:20.560 it was Emily who devoured the text. She finished her 0:14:20.600 --> 0:14:26.440 translation in October seventeen thirty six, transforming the book through 0:14:26.760 --> 0:14:30.160 in her own words, quote my own reflections on the 0:14:30.200 --> 0:14:35.080 material I was working on, including her thoughts on women's education, 0:14:35.760 --> 0:14:39.760 quoted in the first part of the series. While Emily 0:14:39.960 --> 0:14:44.440 thought Mandeville's work was brilliant, she was not as cynical 0:14:44.640 --> 0:14:48.040 as he was, and she added her own nuance to 0:14:48.160 --> 0:14:52.680 his perception of a vice and virtue. Emily's commentary was 0:14:52.720 --> 0:14:58.040 made distinct from the original text through quotation marks. In 0:14:58.080 --> 0:15:03.160 the book's preface, she told readers she found literal translations 0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:08.479 dry and preferred quote lively, turns of phrase and animated 0:15:08.560 --> 0:15:12.840 expressions that render the force and grace of the original. 0:15:14.040 --> 0:15:18.720 At the same time, Emily collaborated with Voltaire on his work. 0:15:19.120 --> 0:15:24.240 His unpublished Treatise on Metaphysics, which took on little topics 0:15:24.360 --> 0:15:28.240 like God, society and human nature, was believed to have 0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:32.440 been written at Emili's request and with her assistance. She 0:15:32.480 --> 0:15:36.320 would be more involved in his next project, Elements of 0:15:36.360 --> 0:15:39.880 the Philosophy of Newton, for which she is credited as 0:15:40.000 --> 0:15:45.560 a co author. In its introduction, inspired by Agarato's translation 0:15:45.840 --> 0:15:49.280 of Newton for an Italian audience, it was the first 0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:54.440 published introduction to Newton in French. It was also Voltaire's 0:15:54.600 --> 0:15:58.600 first foray into the world of science. While he believed 0:15:58.640 --> 0:16:03.600 in Newtonian theory, he was not as mathematically minded as 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:10.080 Emily was, and he sometimes struggled with even basic calculations. Emily, 0:16:10.200 --> 0:16:15.480 by contrast, found herself thriving in the scientific work. It 0:16:15.600 --> 0:16:19.160 was she who filled pages of notes with commentary on 0:16:19.200 --> 0:16:23.080 the movement of the planets, the relativity of motion, and 0:16:23.120 --> 0:16:27.240 the weight of air and water. It is clear which 0:16:27.320 --> 0:16:31.280 sections of the publication were written by Emily, because the 0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:35.520 same ideas show up later in her own works. Her 0:16:35.560 --> 0:16:40.720 writing style was also distinct from Voltaire's neat and full 0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:46.760 of real world applications. In the book's dedication, addressed to Emily, 0:16:47.160 --> 0:16:52.560 Voltaire writes, quote, your solid study of many new truths, 0:16:52.960 --> 0:16:57.120 and the fruits of so meritorious an application, are what 0:16:57.280 --> 0:17:00.640 I now offer the public for your own and the 0:17:00.680 --> 0:17:04.520 glory of your sex. In the front piece of one edition, 0:17:04.760 --> 0:17:09.400 Voltaire sits at his desk, dressed as an ancient philosopher. 0:17:10.119 --> 0:17:14.919 Two figures are depicted as gods above him. Newton on 0:17:14.960 --> 0:17:18.280 the left, sits atop a cloud and gazes at a 0:17:18.400 --> 0:17:22.960 ray of light descending from the heavens. Emily, on the right, 0:17:23.440 --> 0:17:27.239 holds a mirror to reflect the light down upon the 0:17:27.280 --> 0:17:33.200 page Voltaire is writing. While the engraving acknowledges her presence 0:17:33.320 --> 0:17:38.280 in the work, it's also somewhat demeaning. She is portrayed 0:17:38.359 --> 0:17:42.560 with one breast bear and she simply reflects the light 0:17:42.800 --> 0:17:48.040 rather than creating something of her own the Muse. Voltaire, 0:17:48.200 --> 0:17:52.920 while ultimately supportive of Emily's work both publicly and privately, 0:17:53.760 --> 0:17:57.800 was still a man in the eighteenth century. In letters 0:17:57.920 --> 0:18:03.320 to male friends, we see Muse subtly mocking nicknames such 0:18:03.320 --> 0:18:07.639 as my Lady Emily Newton that were thus passed around 0:18:07.680 --> 0:18:12.159 in the intellectual circles of Parisian men that Emily was 0:18:12.240 --> 0:18:18.160 excluded from. While seemingly pleased with their collaborations, Emily had 0:18:18.240 --> 0:18:23.800 a greater drive for scientific discovery than Voltaire did. Following 0:18:23.840 --> 0:18:28.879 their experiments for the Royal Academy's essay competition, Emily became 0:18:29.000 --> 0:18:35.600 obsessed with learning through experimentation, working day and night. Her 0:18:35.640 --> 0:18:40.640 preferred strategy for staying awake was to put her hands 0:18:40.680 --> 0:18:44.399 in ice water, walk around the room, slapping them on 0:18:44.520 --> 0:18:49.439 her arms, and then return to her writing rip, Emily, 0:18:49.720 --> 0:18:54.840 you would have loved a lemon Lime Celsius. Physics became 0:18:54.960 --> 0:18:58.000 a focal point for her. While she waited on the 0:18:58.080 --> 0:19:02.280 results of the essay competition, she asked Voltaire's bookseller in 0:19:02.400 --> 0:19:07.680 Paris to procure for her her own copy of Newton's Principia, 0:19:08.040 --> 0:19:12.560 to be covered in Russian leather with gold tooling, as 0:19:12.600 --> 0:19:15.840 well as quote all the books of physique that you 0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:20.560 will find come your way. Another book Emily was particularly 0:19:20.640 --> 0:19:25.720 excited about was the new release of Algarotti's Newton for 0:19:25.760 --> 0:19:28.720 the Ladies, which she had promised to dedicate to her, 0:19:28.840 --> 0:19:33.159 which we had mentioned earlier. Emily had even been learning 0:19:33.320 --> 0:19:37.800 more Italian and quote training myself in the art of translation, 0:19:38.400 --> 0:19:41.320 with the idea of writing a French version of the book. 0:19:42.080 --> 0:19:44.320 When she got her hands on a copy in May 0:19:44.440 --> 0:19:47.879 of seventeen thirty eight, however, she was shocked at what 0:19:48.040 --> 0:19:52.480 she saw. For one, it was not actually dedicated to her. 0:19:53.480 --> 0:19:57.400 Then there was the matter of the character allegedly inspired 0:19:57.440 --> 0:20:03.720 by her. Algarotti littled her intelligence and wrote their conversations 0:20:03.760 --> 0:20:10.160 about Newtonian principles as often devolving into sexual jokes and metaphors. 0:20:10.840 --> 0:20:15.520 One particular joke about a famous calculation annoyed Emily so 0:20:15.640 --> 0:20:18.960 much that she mentioned it in letters to friends on 0:20:19.119 --> 0:20:24.520 three separate occasions. Voltaire rose to her defense, declaring that 0:20:24.640 --> 0:20:28.760 she knew more than Algarati, despite the fact that he 0:20:29.040 --> 0:20:34.240 Voltaire likely contributed to the way that people perceived Emily 0:20:34.400 --> 0:20:39.440 as frivolous thanks to his little nicknames. It was not long, however, 0:20:39.520 --> 0:20:43.840 before Emily's own work was recognized and published by the Academy. 0:20:44.560 --> 0:20:49.120 She was evidently quite proud of that particular accomplishment. Amongst 0:20:49.160 --> 0:20:53.800 her papers cataloged following her death was the notarized receipt 0:20:53.960 --> 0:20:58.640 of submission signed by the secretary of the Academie Fontanelle, 0:20:59.040 --> 0:21:02.800 whom she had known and childhood. He likely had no 0:21:02.960 --> 0:21:06.840 idea whose entry he was signing off on at the time, 0:21:07.440 --> 0:21:12.040 given that she had submitted it anonymously, wanted it evaluated 0:21:12.240 --> 0:21:20.119 for its intellectual merit with formal recognition from the scientific community. 0:21:20.480 --> 0:21:24.440 Amili's next step was to write her own treatise on 0:21:24.640 --> 0:21:29.120 natural philosophy. The publication of her work on Fire had 0:21:29.160 --> 0:21:33.160 given her great confidence. It was her first step towards 0:21:33.160 --> 0:21:39.160 her quote glory, as described in her posthumously published discourse Unhappiness. 0:21:39.800 --> 0:21:45.719 Her seventeen forty work Institutions da Physique, was originally intended 0:21:45.800 --> 0:21:50.720 as foundational teaching material for her then ten year old son, 0:21:50.800 --> 0:21:55.600 Florent Louis. The text would contain, in her words, truths 0:21:55.680 --> 0:21:59.600 which I want to engrave on his soul, the work 0:21:59.720 --> 0:22:03.080 of all. However, to cover what she called a quote 0:22:03.480 --> 0:22:07.679 vast terrain far beyond her lessons for her son or 0:22:07.720 --> 0:22:12.760 even her previous work with Voltaire. The text introduced readers 0:22:12.800 --> 0:22:18.120 to the foundations of Newton, but also combined philosophy and 0:22:18.200 --> 0:22:24.199 physics to attempt a quote unified theory which would describe 0:22:24.400 --> 0:22:28.840 not only how things happen in the universe, but why 0:22:29.040 --> 0:22:33.440 they happen in the particular way they do. She presented 0:22:33.640 --> 0:22:39.520 Newtonian ideas, yes, but also the ideas of Descartes and 0:22:39.680 --> 0:22:44.760 those of the German philosophers Wolf and Leibnantz. At this time, 0:22:44.960 --> 0:22:49.000 all students of philosophy would have been familiar with the 0:22:49.280 --> 0:22:56.800 seventeen seventeen correspondence between Leibnitz and the Newtonian Samuel Clark, 0:22:57.320 --> 0:23:03.400 which popularized the belief that their calculations were fundamentally opposed. 0:23:04.160 --> 0:23:08.199 Emily looked beyond this binary to see the value in 0:23:08.320 --> 0:23:13.639 both perspectives. Some scholars believe her viewpoint paved the way 0:23:14.119 --> 0:23:18.400 for the one developed by Emmanuel Kant later in the century. 0:23:19.040 --> 0:23:22.679 A great source of her inspiration came from time she 0:23:22.800 --> 0:23:28.240 spent in Brussels, where in seventeen thirty nine she, her husband, 0:23:28.320 --> 0:23:34.040 and Voltaire all briefly moved to claim a Duchalis property 0:23:34.080 --> 0:23:38.040 there that was being contested. It was in Brussels she 0:23:38.160 --> 0:23:41.439 took lessons from a tutor who had studied under the 0:23:41.520 --> 0:23:46.320 German philosopher Wolf. In her opinion quote when it concerns 0:23:46.359 --> 0:23:50.439 a book of physique, one must ask if it is good, 0:23:50.720 --> 0:23:54.920 not if the author is English, German or French. Emily 0:23:55.080 --> 0:23:59.920 was not afraid to question, even sometimes reject the conclusion 0:24:00.160 --> 0:24:05.280 of the quote, great men Aristotle, Galileo, Newton, descartes, you 0:24:05.359 --> 0:24:09.480 name them. Her criticism of these figures, combined with her 0:24:09.520 --> 0:24:13.120 reverence for them, is what makes her work so unique. 0:24:14.080 --> 0:24:16.960 It would be another year and a half before her 0:24:17.000 --> 0:24:22.000 book was published, notably under her own name. She sent 0:24:22.160 --> 0:24:27.320 the first copies to Frederick of Prussia, to her tutor Montpertut, 0:24:27.359 --> 0:24:33.120 and her other intellectual correspondence. The prominent journal De Savant 0:24:33.440 --> 0:24:38.959 published a positive review, which was likely an enormous confidence boost. 0:24:39.720 --> 0:24:43.919 One recipient of an early copy, The new secretary of 0:24:43.960 --> 0:24:49.920 the Academy following Fontanelle's retirement, was not as pleased. If 0:24:49.960 --> 0:24:53.800 you recall the introduction to part one of the series, 0:24:54.280 --> 0:25:00.040 Emily's book featured an accurate disavowal of the calculation that 0:25:00.119 --> 0:25:05.280 force is proportional to velocity. In his first public act, 0:25:05.840 --> 0:25:10.680 the new secretary of the Academy published a pamphlet attacking 0:25:10.720 --> 0:25:16.080 her argument. Far from his intention, the publication only further 0:25:16.280 --> 0:25:21.639 established Emily's legitimacy. What other woman had the Academy deigned 0:25:21.760 --> 0:25:26.159 to acknowledge, let alone engage in public academic debate with 0:25:27.280 --> 0:25:31.800 the secretary. Moraine was shocked when Emily fought back with 0:25:31.920 --> 0:25:36.400 a thirty seven page response of her own. She picked 0:25:36.440 --> 0:25:42.159 apart his letter, paragraph by paragraph, and matched his condescending, 0:25:42.359 --> 0:25:48.560 sarcastic tone. However the public decides, She wrote, I hold 0:25:48.720 --> 0:25:53.479 myself honored always to dispute against a person of your merit. 0:25:54.280 --> 0:25:58.840 It seems this was not just polite posturing. She wrote 0:25:59.000 --> 0:26:02.159 in private letters to friends that she was excited to 0:26:02.200 --> 0:26:07.359 have such an adversary. Still, she quote wanted to pierce 0:26:07.440 --> 0:26:11.800 him to the soul. Quote the conclusions that you have 0:26:11.920 --> 0:26:16.880 drawn were always false, because that which implies contradiction can 0:26:16.960 --> 0:26:20.880 never become true. She notes that she could break down 0:26:21.040 --> 0:26:25.760 exactly why his claims were false again, but only quote 0:26:26.000 --> 0:26:30.320 if I had wanted to bore my readers. The secretary 0:26:30.400 --> 0:26:34.959 did not issue another response. In Parisian circles, it was 0:26:35.000 --> 0:26:40.720 decided that Emily won the debate handedly quote. His has 0:26:40.920 --> 0:26:45.240 succeeded very badly, she wrote to her tutor. It has 0:26:45.359 --> 0:26:49.720 had three quarters of the success of mine. Her book 0:26:50.160 --> 0:26:54.320 was a great success, partly fueled by the publicity of 0:26:54.359 --> 0:26:58.680 the debate, and it received much public praise from academics. 0:26:59.640 --> 0:27:05.000 As Emily found new success, her relationship with Voltaire became strained. 0:27:05.640 --> 0:27:09.159 For one, he deemed himself no longer capable of sex 0:27:09.359 --> 0:27:14.200 due to his various chronic illnesses. Voltaire never had a 0:27:14.400 --> 0:27:20.480 large sexual appetite, which Emily accepted, but abstinence altogether was 0:27:20.560 --> 0:27:24.640 difficult for her. At the same time, he became increasingly 0:27:24.760 --> 0:27:30.600 upset over her diverging views, so dedicated to Newton. He 0:27:30.640 --> 0:27:35.439 deemed Emily's book a Leibnitzian work, despite its fusion of 0:27:35.600 --> 0:27:41.159 multiple viewpoints. Voltaire began to mock Emily more frequently in 0:27:41.240 --> 0:27:45.439 his letters, and even published a critical review of her work. 0:27:46.280 --> 0:27:49.240 To be fair, This was something Emily had also done 0:27:49.320 --> 0:27:54.639 in earlier years, though in better spirits, most pettily. In 0:27:54.720 --> 0:27:59.560 his revised seventeen forty one edition of Elements, he cut 0:27:59.720 --> 0:28:06.080 down his dedication, erasing his praise and diminishing Emily's contributions. 0:28:06.800 --> 0:28:11.159 It is perhaps worth noting that Emily's book was better 0:28:11.240 --> 0:28:16.200 received than elements. Over the past few years, Emily's book 0:28:16.240 --> 0:28:22.040 Institutions was translated into both Italian and German. Emily was 0:28:22.080 --> 0:28:26.320 elected to the Bologna Academy of Sciences, where she chose 0:28:26.359 --> 0:28:30.520 the name Urini, the poetic name Voltaire had once given 0:28:30.560 --> 0:28:35.560 her as her honorific She was especially excited to not 0:28:35.880 --> 0:28:40.959 be the only woman in the room. The Newtonian Laura Bassi, 0:28:41.240 --> 0:28:45.600 a lecturer at the University of Bologna, was another member, 0:28:46.000 --> 0:28:50.400 and she used Emili's book as material in her classes. 0:28:51.040 --> 0:28:54.760 It was quote an encouragement for persons of my sex, 0:28:55.160 --> 0:28:59.760 Emily wrote, to engage in and cultivate the sciences from 0:28:59.800 --> 0:29:05.880 which prejudice had up to the present appeared to exclude them. 0:29:06.240 --> 0:29:09.720 In Germany, it was likely that it was the philosopher 0:29:09.840 --> 0:29:15.600 Wolfe himself who arranged for the translation. Despite his initial 0:29:15.640 --> 0:29:18.920 disbelief that the work was actually written by a woman, 0:29:19.360 --> 0:29:24.520 he came to accept Emily as a quote phenomenon, appreciating 0:29:24.600 --> 0:29:27.520 quote the clarity with which she can talk about the 0:29:27.560 --> 0:29:32.560 subtlest things. In the summer of seventeen forty four, Emily 0:29:32.760 --> 0:29:37.400 had the idea for her largest project yet, a translation 0:29:37.600 --> 0:29:43.800 and commentary on Newton's notoriously difficult Principia. She embarked on 0:29:43.880 --> 0:29:48.200 this project during the busiest time of her life. Quote, 0:29:48.360 --> 0:29:52.080 I lead the life of the world's most disordered. I 0:29:52.240 --> 0:29:55.000 pass my days in the ante chamber of the Minister 0:29:55.160 --> 0:29:58.560 of War to obtain a regiment for my son. I 0:29:58.720 --> 0:30:01.560 go to bed at four in the morning, and I 0:30:01.680 --> 0:30:06.200 work when I have the time. Spoken like a real 0:30:06.480 --> 0:30:11.040 woman trying to have it all. She had recently relocated 0:30:11.120 --> 0:30:15.480 from Siri to Louis Court in favor of the advancement 0:30:15.640 --> 0:30:20.320 of her son, as well as to support Voltaire's ambitions 0:30:20.360 --> 0:30:24.880 to join the Academy, and Emily struggled to balance the 0:30:24.920 --> 0:30:29.000 lifestyle of the intellectual with the lifestyle of the courtier. 0:30:29.920 --> 0:30:34.680 In her day, no other physicist or philosopher had undertaken 0:30:34.760 --> 0:30:40.680 even a partial translation of Newton's Principia, but Emily intended 0:30:40.720 --> 0:30:45.920 to translate all three volumes. The work was so complicated 0:30:46.040 --> 0:30:51.480 that many contemporaries, including her tutor Morpetu, acknowledged that they 0:30:51.560 --> 0:30:54.840 found it hard to follow. It was not just a 0:30:55.000 --> 0:30:59.800 simple translation, either. She had to choose which mathematicians in 0:31:00.000 --> 0:31:04.560 interpretations of the work to include and add her own calculations, 0:31:04.960 --> 0:31:09.560 even if they contradicted Newton's. While she was on course 0:31:09.600 --> 0:31:13.800 to have the translation published in seventeen forty six, she 0:31:13.920 --> 0:31:20.200 had to pause in seventeen forty five following a revelation Voltaire, 0:31:20.400 --> 0:31:26.880 it appeared, had regained his sexual appetite, only not for Emilie. 0:31:27.800 --> 0:31:33.040 She had discovered a collection of letters between Voltaire and 0:31:33.280 --> 0:31:37.480 Marie Louise Deni, a thirty three year old widow and 0:31:38.200 --> 0:31:44.640 Voltaire's own niece. Though rumors circulated, Emilie did not go 0:31:44.760 --> 0:31:50.080 public with the scandalous betrayal, and details were only uncovered 0:31:50.480 --> 0:31:54.800 after the letters were sold at auction in the nineteen fifties. 0:31:55.600 --> 0:31:59.479