Translating Newton's Principia : The Marquise du Châtelet's revisions and additions for a French audience

Abstract

In the 1740s, the Marquise du Châtelet translated Newton's Principia (1731, third edition) into French. Her's remains the standard translation. In addition, she wrote an extensive commentary in which she gave her own description of the System of the World , and analytical solutions to key disputed aspects of Newton's theory of universal gravitation. She also included summaries of two mathematical essays that clarified and confirmed Newton's application of his theory to observed phenomena: Aléxis–Claude Clairaut's on the shape of the Earth and Daniel Bernoulli's on the effects of the Sun and Moon on the tides.