MARC Record from Western Washington University

LEADER: 04180cam 22003854a 4500
001 ocm64594374
003 OCoLC
005 20061023095139.0
008 060308s2006 nyuaf b 001 0ceng
010 $a2006008059
020 $a0307237206
020 $a9780307237200
040 $aDLC$cDLC$dBAKER$dC#P$dYDXCP$dXFF
042 $apcc
043 $ae-fr---
049 $aXFFA
050 00 $aPQ2103.D7$bB63 2006
100 1 $aBodanis, David.
245 10 $aPassionate minds :$bthe great love affair of the Enlightenment, featuring the scientist Emilie Du Ch{circ}atelet, the poet Voltaire, sword fights, book burnings, assorted kings, seditious verse, and the birth of the modern world /$cDavid Bodanis.
246 30 $aGreat love affair of the Enlightenment, featuring the scientist Emilie Du Ch{circ}atelet, the poet Voltaire, sword fights, book burnings, assorted kings, seditious verse, and the birth of the modern world
250 $a1st American ed.
260 $aNew York :$bCrown Publishers,$cc2006.
300 $a373 p., [8] p. of plates :$bill. ;$c25 cm.
520 1 $a"It was 1733 when the poet and philosopher Voltaire met Emilie du Chatelet, a beguiling - and married - aristocrat who would one day popularize Newton's arcane ideas and pave the way for Einstein's theories. In an era when women were rarely permitted any serious schooling, this twenty-seven-year-old's nimble conversation and unusual brilliance led Voltaire, then in his late thirties, to wonder, "Why did you only reach me so late?" They fell immediately and passionately in love." "Through the prism of their tumultuous fifteen-year relationship we see the crumbling of an ancient social order and the birth of the Enlightenment. Together the two lovers rebuilt a dilapidated and isolated rural chateau at Cirey where they conducted scientific experiments, entertained many of the leading thinkers of the burgeoning scientific revolution, and developed radical ideas about the monarchy, the nature of free will, the subordination of women, and the separation of church and state." "But their time together was filled with far more than reading and intellectual conversation. There were frantic gallopings across France, sword fights in front of besieged German fortresses, and a deadly burning of Voltaire's books by the public executioner at the base of the grand stairwell of the Palais de Justice in Paris. The pair survived court intrigues at Versailles, narrow escapes from agents of the king, a covert mission to the idyllic lakeside retreat of Frederick the Great of Prussia, forays to the royal gambling tables (where Emilie put her mathematical acumen to lucrative use), and intense affairs that bent but did not break their bond." "Along with its riveting portrait of Voltaire as a vulnerable romantic, Passionate Minds at last does justice to the supremely unconventional life and remarkable achievements of Emilie da Chatelet - including her work on the science of fire and the nature of light. Long overlooked, her story tells us much about women's lives at the time of the Enlightenment. Equally important, it demonstrates how this graceful, quick-witted, and attractive woman worked out the concepts that would lead directly to the "squared" part of Einstein's revolutionary equation: E=mc[superscript 2]." "Based on a rich array of personal letters, as well as writings from houseguests, neighbors, scientists, and even police reports, Passionate Minds is both panoramic and intimate in feeling. It is an unforgettable love story and a vivid rendering of the birth of modern ideas."--BOOK JACKET
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. [295]-354) and index.
600 10 $aVoltaire,$d1694-1778$xRelations with women.
600 10 $aDu Ch{circ}atelet, Gabrielle Emilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil,$cmarquise,$d1706-1749.
650 0 $aAuthors, French$y18th century$vBiography.
650 0 $aScientists$zFrance$vBiography.
650 0 $aMistresses$zFrance$vBiography.
856 41 $3Table of contents only$uhttp://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip0610/2006008059.html
907 $a.b21014887$bmulti$c-
902 $a080204
998 $b1$c061109$dm$ea$f-$g0
902 $asc