“I cannot therefore conceive how it could have been said in an essay that won the first prize of the Academy of Sciences (and in which there are nevertheless some excellent things) that the existence of motion in a body is the existence of time in the body; that time and the motion of a body are the same thing; and finally, that it is a childhood prejudice to believe that time is the measure of rest as well as of motion.” (Émilie du Châtelet, Institutions de physique, §110)
Exciting news! Later this month, we will be releasing the commentary on five chapters of Émilie du Châtelet‘s Institutions de physique as part of our historical-critical edition at the Center for the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists.
The commentary, written by Dr. Pierpaolo Betti, traces the wide range of philosophical, scientific, and literary sources Du Châtelet drew on in drafting her Institutions. One of these sources is the Swiss mathematician and philosopher Jean-Pierre de Crousaz (1663–1750), whose prize-winning essay “Discours sur le principe, la nature, et la communication du mouvement” she directly challenges in the passage quoted above. Crousaz was also among the first critics of the Institutions when it appeared in 1740, and traces of his controversy with Du Châtelet can be found in the revised edition of 1742. Mapping these sources and controversies is thus essential to understanding the Institutions not as an isolated text, but as a work in deep dialogue with the leading figures and debates of Du Châtelet’s time.Stay tuned and find out more about our project here: https://historyofwomenphilosophers.org/projects/emilie-du-chatelet-paris-manuscript/
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