Voltaire's contribution to the spread of newtonianism—I. letters from england: Les lettres philosophiques

Abstract

Part I: In early middle life Voltaire had a considerable interest in science, provoked by a visit to London and by learning at close range of the work of men like Newton and Locke, which had developed in a more scientific direction than that of the Cartesianism then current and almost universal in France. With courage, and to the chagrin of his own countrymen, Voltaire advocated the empirically based work or Natural Philosophy of Newton. He published a thin volume known as the Letters from England, 1733 or Les Lettres Philosophiques in 1734, which brought him into conflict with the officialdom of France and then exile. We describe and discuss the contents and background of this very influential book and entertain some comments made about it, then and since. For us, the philosopher John Locke here comes to play a larger role in this subject than he normally assumes in discussions of Newtonianism. We endeavour to show too the roles played by Jacques Rohault and Samuel Clarke. Part II: Resting on Part I we discuss Voltaire's larger volume of 1738, on Elements of Newton's Philosophy. Mme Emilie du Châtelet (or Chastelet) was enormously influential in the writing of it and indeed is often credited as having been truly a co-author. She made a translation of Newton's Principia which was posthumously and openly published for her in 1759, by Clairaut, 10 years after her death. Mme du Châtelet and Voltaire were greatly responsible for spreading Newton's views in France; wrote Miller in [1(a)], “... he conquered the mind of the Continent by popularising Newton”. We review the translation of the Elements, its reception, and again describe the background of the period. Our subject is a little-known story that might well have been an entertaining and timely lecture for students of mechanics three years ago on the occasion of the tercentenary of the Principia [1(b)].