Tribute to Emilie du Châtelet

While doing some research on the web, I came across the story of Emilie du Chatelet. Who is she? A brilliant woman who's work rivaled Einstein, but sadly forgotten (buried) in history by men who couldn't accept (threatened?) that a woman could have come up with ingenuous work. Frustrated, she journaled her thoughts at being shackled by a male dominated society:

"I feel the full weight of the prejudice which so universally excludes us from the sciences; it is one of the contradictions in life that has always amazed me, seeing that the law allows us to determine the fate of great nations, but that there is no p lace where we are trained to think...Let the reader ponder why, at no time in the course of so many centuries, a good tragedy, a good poem, a respected tale, a fine painting, a good book on physics has ever been produced by women. Why these creatures who se understanding appears in every way similar to that of men, seem to be stopped by some irresistible force, this side of a barrier. Let the people give a reason, but until they do, women will have reason to protest against their education...If I were king...I would redress an abuse which cuts back, as it were, one half of human kind. I would have women participate in all human rights, especially those of the mind. It would seem as if they were born only to deceive -- this being the only intellectual exercise allowed them. The new education would greatly benefit the human race. Women would be worth more and men would gain something new to emulate...I am convinced that either many women are unaware of their talents by reason of the fault in their edu cation or that bury them on account of prejudice for want of intellectual courage. My own experience confirms this. Chance made me aquatinted with men of letters who extended the hand of friendship to me...I then began to believe that I was a being with a mind..."

Her characteristically UNboring life also distracted from her true worth as a scientist. Involved in quite a number of scandals and brash moves, people became too caught up with the gossips she was creating rather than powerful theories she wrote which led to the invention of photography and dynamics of light.

If you are as captivated by the life of this woman as I am, here are some links to unearth more about the life of this extraordinary woman who dared to live her life fully, without apology:

Chateau Cirey, where she stayed with Voltaire
Her Biography