Close

https://global.oup.com/academic/covers/pop-up/9780199931613

Seduced by Logic

Émilie Du Châtelet, Mary Somerville and the Newtonian Revolution

Robyn Arianrhod

Tells the story of Emilie du Chatelet and Mary Somerville, who, despite living a century apart, were connected by their love for mathematics and their places at the heart of the most advanced scientific society of their age
Both a dual biography and history of science
Offers to a general reader an appealing introduction to concepts of Newtonian physics, written in an accessible and lively way
An engaging story about women in mathematics, written by an author who is herself a Physics PhD and mathematician at Monash University

Seduced by Logic

Émilie Du Châtelet, Mary Somerville and the Newtonian Revolution

Robyn Arianrhod

Description

Newton's explanation of the natural law of universal gravity shattered the way mankind perceived the universe, and hence it was not immediately embraced. After all, how can anyone warm to a force that cannot be seen or touched? But for two women, separated by time and space but joined in their passion for Newtonian physics, the intellectual power of that force drove them to great achievements. Brilliant, determined, and almost entirely self-taught, they dedicated their lives to explaining and disseminating Newton's discoveries.

Robyn Arianrhod's Seduced by Logic tells the story of Emilie du Chatelet and Mary Somerville, who, despite living a century apart, were connected by their love for mathematics and their places at the heart of the most advanced scientific society of their age. When Newton published his revolutionary theory of gravity, in his monumental Principia of 1687, most of his Continental peers rejected it for its reliance on physical observation and mathematical insight instead of religious or metaphysical hypotheses. But the brilliant French aristocrat and intellectual Emilie du Chatelet and some of her early eighteenth-century Enlightenment colleagues--including her lover, Voltaire--realized the Principia had changed everything, marking the beginning of theoretical science as a predictive, quantitative, and secular discipline. Emilie devoted herself to furthering Newton's ideas in France, and her translation of the Principia is still the accepted French version of this groundbreaking work. Almost a century later, in Scotland, Mary Somerville taught herself mathematics and rose from genteel poverty to become a world authority on Newtonian physics. She was fêted by the famous French Newtonian, Pierre Simon Laplace, whose six-volume Celestial Mechanics was considered the greatest intellectual achievement since the Principia. Laplace's work was the basis of Mary's first book, Mechanism of the Heavens; it is a bittersweet irony that this book, written by a woman denied entry to university because of her gender, remained an advanced university astronomy text for the next century.

Combining biography, history, and popular science, Seduced by Logic not only reveals the fascinating story of two incredibly talented women, but also brings to life a period of dramatic political and scientific change. With lucidity and skill, Arianrhod explains the science behind the story, and explores - through the lives of her protagonists - the intimate links between the unfolding Newtonian revolution and the development of intellectual and political liberty.

Seduced by Logic

Émilie Du Châtelet, Mary Somerville and the Newtonian Revolution

Robyn Arianrhod

Introduction
1 Madame Newton du Châtelet
2 Creating the theory of gravity: the Newtonian controversy
3 Learning mathematics and fighting for freedom
4 Émilie and Voltaire's Academy of Free Thought
5 Testing Newton: the'New Argonauts'
6 The danger in Newton: life, love and politics
7 The nature of light: Émilie takes on Newton
8 Searching for 'energy': Émilie discovers Leibniz
9 Mathematics and free will
10 The re-emergence of Madame Newton du Châtelet
11 Love letters to Saint-Lambert
12 Mourning Émilie
13 Mary Fairfax Somerville
14 The long road to fame
15 Mechanism of the Heavens
16 Mary's second book: popular science in the nineteenth century
17 Finding light waves: the 'Newtonian Revolution' comes of age
18 Mary Somerville: a fortunate life
Epilogue: Declaring a point of view

Seduced by Logic

Émilie Du Châtelet, Mary Somerville and the Newtonian Revolution

Robyn Arianrhod

Author Information

Robyn Arianrhod is an Honorary Research Associate in the School of Mathematical Sciences at Monash University. She is the author of Einstein's Heroes.

Seduced by Logic

Émilie Du Châtelet, Mary Somerville and the Newtonian Revolution

Robyn Arianrhod

Reviews and Awards

"...timely reminder of how little things have changed since the 19th century and how much women of science can accomplish." -- Wall Street Journal

"Anyone who enjoys the history of science, especially from the underrepresented feminist perspective, should appreciate this well-crafted narrative. Recommended." -- Library Journal

"Here is a skillfully written tapestry of the science, history and portrayal of two of the most charismatic women of mathematical science. Robyn Arianrhod has produced a captivating masterpiece that lures us readers into the intrigues and treasures of eighteenth-century scientific life." -- Joseph Mazur, author of Euclid in the Rainforest and What's Luck Got to Do with It?

"An elegant and inspiring history of how scientific revolutions make their way." -- Edward Dolnick, The Clockwork Universe

"For lovers of mathematics, this is the story of two delightful women whose translations and popularizations helped transform Newton's controversial theory of gravitation into [an accepted] natural law." -- Sharon Bertsch McGrayne, author of The Theory that Would Not Die and Prometheans in the Lab

"It is impossible not to be caught up in Arianrhod's enthusiasm for her subject and [be] gripped from the first page." -- Weekend Australian

"An impressively far-reaching book... Arianrhod takes the wide scope of her book as an opportunity to discuss Newtonian mathematics, the history of the Enlightenment, and women's education, to name just a few of her subjects. And no matter what the topic, her prose is natural, graceful and lucid."-- Readings

PRAISE FOR ROBYN ARIANRHOD'S EINSTEIN'S HEROES: "Robyn Arianrhod's passion for mathematics is so infectious, you'll scream 'Eureka' when you read her book." -- Herald-Sun

"I read this exhilarating book as I would a novel. Arianrhod combines a passion for her subject with an erudition that is rate for a storyteller." -- Robyn Williams, ABC'S The Science Show

Seduced by Logic

Émilie Du Châtelet, Mary Somerville and the Newtonian Revolution

Robyn Arianrhod

From Our Blog

Mary Somerville: the new face on Royal Bank of Scotland's ten-pound note is worthy of international recognition

From 2017, ten-pound notes issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland will feature a new face: that of the great nineteenth-century science communicator Mary Somerville. Her book on mathematical astronomy, Mechanism of the Heavens -- published in 1831, when she was fifty years old -- was used as an advanced textbook at Cambridge for a hundred years. This is a phenomenal achievement for a woman who taught herself science and mathematics.

Posted on March 1, 2016

Read the blog post

Celebrating Newton, 325 years after Principia

By Robyn Arianrhod This year, 2012, marks the 325th anniversary of the first publication of the legendary Principia (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), the 500-page book in which Sir Isaac Newton presented the world with his theory of gravity. It was the first comprehensive scientific theory in history, and it's withstood the test of time over the past three centuries.

Posted on December 26, 2012

Read the blog post

What sort of science do we want?

By Robyn Arianrhod 29 November 2012 is the 140th anniversary of the death of mathematician Mary Somerville, the nineteenth century's 'Queen of Science'. Several years after her death, Oxford University's Somerville College was named in her honor -- a poignant tribute because Mary Somerville had been completely self-taught. In 1868, when she was 87, she had signed J. S. Mill's (unsuccessful) petition for female suffrage, but I think she'd be astonished that we're still debating 'the woman question' in science.

Posted on November 29, 2012

Read the blog post