Criminal Law Library Blog
INTRODUCTION.
Émilie du Châtelet (1706–1749) was a pioneering scientist, philosopher, and translator whose intellect shone brightly in the Age of Enlightenment. Best known for her French translation and commentary on Newton’s Principia Mathematica, still the standard version today, she brought clarity and depth to Newtonian physics while offering original insights into energy and motion.
Living and working alongside Voltaire at Cirey, she helped shape the intellectual life of her time, challenging assumptions in science, philosophy, ethics, and society. Although Émilie du Châtelet wasn’t a legal scholar or actively involved in the legal profession, her writings and critiques demonstrate awareness of the role of laws and social structures in shaping individuals’ lives, particularly for women, and highlight her philosophical arguments for justice, equality, and the importance of intellectual freedom for all.
I have written this poem, “In Celebration of Émilie du Châtelet: A Truly Renaissance Woman,” to honor not only her scientific genius, but also her humanity and the fullness of her life—her courage, wit, insight, and the clarity of her voice in a world not yet ready for her. May her story continue to inspire all who seek truth across disciplines and who believe that intellect knows no gender.
In Celebration of Émilie du Châtelet
A Truly Renaissance Woman
David Badertscher
Born in Paris, winter’s child,
A noble girl, both bright and wild.
At Louis’ court, with poise and grace,
She learned to think, to ride, to race.
She mastered Latin, German, Greek—
Not just for show, but truth to seek.
She fenced, she danced, she read with flair—
A brilliant mind beyond compare.
She married young, yet chose to chart
A path through science, soul, and art.
Three children came, yet she would find
Another life—of greater mind.
With Voltaire, that flame of light,
She built a world in Cirey’s height.
A lab, a library, rooms to write—
Their days were thought, their nights were bright.
She studied Newton’s laws and force,
But questioned, too, their rigid course.
“Is matter moved by weight alone?
Or by a force not yet well known?”
She dropped the spheres and watched the clay—
And showed the world a clearer way:
That energy is not just speed,
But mass times speed squared—thus decreed.
Not mv, as Newton claimed,
But half mv² must be named.
She argued well, with facts and fire—
Her insights reached where few aspire.
And near her life’s untimely close,
She took on Newton’s Latin prose.
She made it French, precise and clear,
With notes that scholars still revere.
She didn’t just translate his text—
She questioned parts, she added nexts.
She brought to light what once was dim—
And lifted thought beyond its rim.
She wrote on joy, on fate, on sin—
On how true happiness begins.
A woman’s mind, both bold and free,
Ahead of even history.
She paid her debts with wit and schemes—
Inventing futures out of dreams.
A proto-market, sharp and sly—
She kept her head, and held it high.
At forty-two, she bore once more,
A daughter—hope—but life ran short.
Yet in six days, though breath had fled,
Her legacy rose in her stead.
Émilie lives in every mind
That seeks the truth, and dares to find.
A voice that questioned, yet embraced—
A force the world cannot erase.