Chatelet << `shah` tuh LAY >>, Marquise du (1706-1749), was a French mathematician, physicist, and science writer. She contributed to the revival of French science by promoting the theories of the English scientist Sir Isaac Newton. She also influenced the work of Voltaire, one of France’s leading authors and philosophers, and became his mistress.
Du Chatelet began her interpretations of Newton’s work in 1735 with an essay on his discoveries in optics. Voltaire incorporated some of her later writings on Newton in his book Elements of Newton’s Philosophy (1738). From 1745 to 1749, du Chatelet worked on a translation and analytical review of Newton’s most important work, Principia mathematica (1687). The translation was published in 1759 after her death.
Du Chatelet was born Gabrielle-Emilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil on Dec. 17, 1706, in Paris. As an aristocrat, she received an excellent education in literature and science. In 1724, she married Florent-Claude, Marquis du Chatelet, the governor of Semur-en-Auxois. She died on Sept. 10, 1749.
