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Passionate Minds

david bodanis

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It was 1733 when the poet and philosopher Voltaire met Emilie du Châtelet, a beguiling—and married—aristocrat who would one day popularize Newton’s arcane ideas and pave the way for Einstein’s theories. In an era when women were rarely permitted any serious schooling, this twenty-seven-year-old’s nimble conversation and unusual brilliance led Voltaire, then in his late thirties, to wonder, “Why did you only reach me so late?” They fell immediately and passionately in love.

Through the prism of their tumultuous fifteen-year relationship we see the crumbling of an ancient social order and the birth of the Enlightenment. Together the two lovers rebuilt a dilapidated and isolated rural chateau at Cirey where they conducted scientific experiments, entertained many of the leading thinkers of the burgeoning scientific revolution, and developed radical ideas about the monarchy, the nature of free will, the subordination of women, and the separation of church and state.

But their time together was filled with far more than reading and intellectual conversation. There were frantic gallopings across France, sword fights in front of besieged German fortresses, and a deadly burning of Voltaire’s books by the public executioner at the base of the grand stairwell of the Palais de Justice in Paris. The pair survived court intrigues at Versailles, narrow escapes from agents of the king, a covert mission to the idyllic lakeside retreat of Frederick the Great of Prussia, forays to the royal gambling tables (where Emilie put her mathematical acumen to lucrative use), and intense affairs that bent but did not break their bond.

Along with its riveting portrait of Voltaire as a vulnerable romantic, Passionate Minds at last does justice to the supremely unconventional life and remarkable achievements of Emilie du Châtelet—including her work on the science of fire and the nature of light. Long overlooked, her story tells us much about women’s lives at the time of the Enlightenment. Equally important, it demonstrates how this graceful, quick-witted, and attractive woman worked out the concepts that would lead directly to the “squared” part of Einstein’s revolutionary equation: E=mc2.

Based on a rich array of personal letters, as well as writings from houseguests, neighbors, scientists, and even police reports, Passionate Minds is both panoramic and intimate in feeling. It is an unforgettable love story and a vivid rendering of the birth of modern ideas.

373 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1,2006

This edition

Format
373 pages, Hardcover
Published
October 10, 2006 by Crown
ISBN
9780307237200
ASIN
0307237206
Language
English
Characters More characters
  • Émilie du Châtelet

    Émilie Du Châtelet

    Gabrielle Émilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, marquise du Châtelet (17 December 1706, Paris – 10 September 1749, Lunéville) was a French mathematician, physicist, and author during the Age of Enlightenment. Her crowning achievement is considered to be her tr...

  • Voltaire

    Voltaire

    A French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher famous for his wit, his attacks on the established Catholic Church, and his advocacy of freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and separation of church and state. Voltaire was a versatile writ...

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About the author

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david bodanis

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David Bodanis' latest book THE ART OF FAIRNESS: THE POWER OF DECENCY IN A WORLD TURNED MEAN was published November 2020 and asks the question that has long fascinated David: Can you succeed without being a terrible person? The answer is 'Yes, but you need skill', and the book shows how. I demonstrate those insights through a series of biographies…

David Bodanis is the bestselling author of THE SECRET HOUSE and E=MC2, which was turned into a PBS documentary and a Southbank Award-winning ballet at Sadler's Wells. David also wrote ELECTRIC UNIVERSE, which won the Royal Society Science Book of the Year Prize, and PASSIONATE MINDS, a BBC Book of the Week. Then a return to Einstein and the struggles he went through with EINSTEIN'S GREATEST MISTAKE which was named ‘Science Book of the Year' by the Sunday Times, and also widely translated.

David has worked for the Royal Dutch Shell Scenario Prediction unit and the World Economic Forum. He has been a popular speaker at TED conferences and at Davos. His work has been published in the Financial Times, the Guardian, and the New York Times, and has appeared on Newsnight, Start the Week, and other programs. When not slumped in front of a laptop, he has been known to attempt kickboxing, with highly variable results.

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Community Reviews

Rating(4 / 5.0, 100 votes)
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Silva97
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I’ve been meaning to read this for awhile, hoping to strengthen my background on the Enlightenment. The ridiculously long subtitle (The Great Love Affair of the Enlightenment, Featuring the Scientist Emilie du Châtelet, the Poet Voltaire, Sword Fights, Book Burnings, Assorted Kings, Seditious Verse, and the Birth of the Modern World) promises a great deal, but does it deliver? Yes and no.

This book’s forte is the behind-the-scenes picture it provides of two great Enlightenment thinkers and I would recommend it for that alone. However, despite revealing a great deal about private life in eighteenth-century France, particularly the limited opportunities for women, I could have used more context regarding the intellectual achievements and historical significance of these two larger-than-life personalities. That said, there is a good list of references and follow-up at the back.
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childisharmenzo
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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The is an excellent glimpse into the life of a little known, but remarkable French woman. Emilie du Chatelet had a mind that not even the master of intellect, Voltaire, could hold a candle to her scientific and mathematical prowess.

The style is unique, as it reads more like a novel than an historical recount of 18th c. France. It is superbly researched and threaded together through the many extant letters of Voltaire. His early life is given rich historical context and the author does well to humanize him during his long affair with Emilie. We get to know Voltaire as a man, rather than a symbol of intellectual superiority.

On a whole I thought Bodanis really personalized these two fascinating individuals as well as their friends. He captured the spirit of Paris and the royal court of Louis that you can't help but feel connected to a place in time in history other than the present. If you desire to read about a woman who has a strenth of character that is truly extraordinary for the period than I highly recommend this book.
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KeelaKween23
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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An enjoyable read which gives an interesting history lesson on 18th century France and the birth if the Enlightenment. Voltaire and Emelie obviously led amazingly rich and influential lives which makes for fascinating reading. My only complaint is that I would have liked to see a bit more in depth description of the scientific advancements they made - there was a lot of talk of complicated Newtonian formulae but little explanation of what it all meant. But it has certainly fired up my recently rekindled interest in European history and left me keen to learn more.
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Dhafindaffa
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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This biography of the 18th century French aristocrat Émilie du Châtelet who managed to defy the conventions of her time and acquire an education in, and make important contributions to, multiple scientific fields glides through the culture and society of an intellectually important era of Western European history. The affair Émilie had with the author Voltaire provides the eponymous passion and the book is both a biography of her and a biography of him, at least up until the death of his lover in 1749 (he would live another 29 years during which period he would compose his most famous work, Candide). Primary sources are used extensively to capture their daily activities including hunting, putting on plays, and conducting expensive science experiments at Émilie’s château in Cirey. Bodanis has consulted their love letters as well as the letters and memoirs of their friends, rivals, lovers, and servants and the result is a very rich account of lives lived almost three centuries ago. It is notable that Émilie was able to become well known for her expertise in the scientific interests of the day in France and England and this was work which was extremely important to her, as becomes apparent when she races to complete a translation and commentary on the work of Isaac Newton just before her untimely death. Bodanis goes fairly light on the science as well as the social customs of the French upper class (as well as other classes too) and this does let the focus of the book fall on the personalities involved. Still, I would have appreciated a bit more detail (there is some in the endnotes in the back which are very much worth reading along with the main text), especially about the science, as I felt like I was left without a thorough understanding of just why this person, who once wrote that “we all secretly like the idea of being talked about after our death” is in fact still worth talking about. Viewed as a biography, however, this is a well researched story of a dynamic, intellectually curious Enlightenment figure and the customs and personalities she lived among.
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euniceeloise
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Amazed. This book was powerful on so many levels. I always enjoy reading stories of under-appreciated and ignored historical figures. People who matter in times or places that I want to understand. People that changed how we see the world.

The story is a dramatic romance at the beginning of The Enlightenment. Emilie du Chatelet was a brilliant and sexy woman who was a contemporary and long-time lover of Voltaire. Along with Voltaire, Emilie maneuvered palace intrigue and high society long enough to find a practical way to be mistress to an amazing thinker as she worked to understand Newton and explain the universe. The book is extremely well written and hard to put down.

I needed to read this particular book at this time. There are echos of some of the military chaos and societal malaise that accompany new modes of thinking today. A new way to see equal rights and the role of science in our modern life.
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ludenberghia
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I love this book. It's exciting, engaging prose, it's a riveting story, and it's a real kick in the pants to read historical facts documenting how Emilie Du Chatelet was so much smarter/savvier/more clever than Voltaire. While we're at it, forgetVoltaire! It tturns out his one good quote, "I may not agree with a thing you say but I will defend your right to say it" wasn't even his. Yet another disillusionment caused by the fallacy that is high school history class.

But yes, read this book. Emilie is a heroine and deserves to be acknowledged as one of the greatest (dareisaypassionate?) minds of her time.
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Kiaraaaaaa_
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Highly engaging and informative combination of history and biography. It was great reading about both Emelie and Voltaire and their lives and works. I could have used more focus on the science, but the glimpses into the 18th century life and culture of France were vivid and fascinating.
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