Émilie du Châtelet, A Shared Anniversary
December 17th is the birthday of Elizabeth Craven who was born in London in 1750. It also happens to be the birthday of another remarkable eighteenth-century woman, Émilie du Châtelet, who was, in her way, just as daring, unconventional and ground-breaking. She was the first to translate Newton's Principia into French, a quite staggering achievement because the translator had to understand the science thoroughly as well as have a perfect command of both Latin and French. Gabrielle-Émilie de Bréteuil was born on 17th December 1706, daughter of the Baron de Breteuil who had a court post at Versailles, and like Craven she had an outstanding education. She was taught Latin and mathematics, and went on to study English and Italian. As she grew up she developed a keen interest in physics, but could not of course study at any university, and in 1725 at the age of nineteen she was married to the Marquis du Châtelet. After she had given birth to three children including two boys, her hu