A wonderful book, especially for anyone interested in the history of science or the early Enlightenment. From this book I really got a feel for life in the early 1700s in France. It does a good job of showing you what was thought, what was possible and what couldn't be conceived of. As someone that has read my share of history's of science, I'm chagrined to never have heard of Emilie du Chatelet. She was an amazing woman and her relationship with Voltaire was groundbreaking (given the time and upper class-ness) in its equality.

I also really enjoyed this look into early Enlightenment times and how ideas about life were changing. I'll pick out one thing that struck me. The idea of privacy was discussed. There wasn't really an expectation of personal privacy in the home. (As an example it was described how the king would sit on his royal 'throne' and go to the bathroom in a open setting amongst all his courtiers.) Emilie had a bathroom/tub done up so that she could partition it off for privacy. I was struck by this, especially since in today's digital age, the younger generation is moving, fully thought out or not, toward less privacy.

Any way, read this book. Very good.

You just can't see the original title without wanting to read the whole thing at one sitting: Passionate Minds: The Great Love Affair of the Enlightenment, Featuring the Scientist Emilie du Chatelet, the Poet Voltaire, Sword Fights, Book Burnings, Assorted Kings, Seditious Verse, and the Birth of the Modern World. And you'd be so right.

Interesting that all 4 people who've previously reviewed this book have made it seem much more about Emilie than Voltaire, which is certainly not the case. It is extremely well balanced, and well researched. Given that I've read a number of books on Voltaire, and a good portion of his oeuvre, I picked it up for the Voltaire interest and was not disappointed. Even though my favourite biography of the man (Voltaire Almighty) was mentioned in the book, 'Passionate Minds' is not a re-hash of facts I already knew. Those unfamiliar with Voltaire will not, however, find that the author assumes more knowledge than they have. Same with Emilie.
I was also quite pleased with the inclusion of Frederick the Great (to whom Voltaire gave this epithet) and the amount of detail given. I've not read a whole lot on him before, but even so, there was not much new here. Not a problem though, since it was background information intended to flesh out this important figure enough for his role in the lives of Voltaire and Emilie to be comprehensible to new readers. I hope this book encourages people to read more about all the subjects discussed -the section in the back with suggested further reading is excellent.

3.5/5

A recounting of the events surrounding the romantic relationship of Emilie du Chatelet and Voltaire, with a particular emphasis on emphasizing du Chatelet's contributions to science through her modernizing reinterpretation of Newton's Principia. As advertised in the covers, the events in these lives are almost absurdly thrilling, to the point where it may sometimes make the most brazen paperback adventure story feel down-to-earth. Simply living such an eventful life is probably enough justification for writing a biography, but on top of that Emilie (despite her fundamental scientific and philosophical contributions to Enlightenment thinking) is nowadays little-known and underappreciated. So it's natural that someone coming across Emlie's life might feel compelled to write a biography.

I just can't help feeling that the author was maybe not the best person for the job. It feels mean to say, but reading this book felt like a strange duality of being engaged by the highly interesting subject matter while being put-off and bored by the lackluster presentation of the content. Furthermore I can't really put my finger on any tangible stylistic points that lead to this impression, besides the author's tendency to sometimes chime in with a tongue-in-cheek comment on some person's personality flaws. Which are a bit off-putting but aren't enough to weigh down the book on their own.

Overall, a great story that is worth learning about, and this book is probably the best way to go about doing so right now.

This is one of those rare works that fit into the category of "books by men writing about women admired by men." Bodanis elevates Emilie to her rightful place in history, a woman so sharp and driven she surpassed one of the most celebrated figures of the day, Voltaire, in intellect, scientific discovery, and math--and was, indeed, among the best minds of her chosen fields.

Granted, Emilie had lucky male allies. Her father, won over early in his romantic career by an intelligent woman, provided a foundation that, had it been absent, might have denied her such self-development. Her husband was equally helpful, neither threatened by her intellect and fame nor interested in curbing her travels, affairs, or writing, and willing to step in when his influence and role could solve a problem. And then there was Voltaire and other lovers who she gained from and with whom she shared power and creative energy.

Like other women living in times and places more constrained than our own who nevertheless carved their own path--think Mary Wollstonecraft--she thumbed her nose at a society that would have her stupid and slow, participating in sycophantism and concerned with nothing but fashion and gossip. But with confidence in her own abilities, she found a route to leaving her mark on the world, the world of men. Yes, she was rich, and yes she had the aid of rich men. But we can only be glad that she was and did.

Bodanis's take on Emilie's and Voltaire's relationship pulls from extensive research and primary sources and is endlessly fascinating. He peers into their psychology, both separate and as a couple, identifying Voltaire's insecurities and failures, building Emilie up as the steadfast, determined, problem-solving powerhouse of a woman than she was while touching upon her human weaknesses, struggles, and frustrations.

Books written by men who depict women as admired and applauded by the men around them, including their partners, are as rare as, well, the situations throughout history that depict such dynamic. Another excellent work in this category is n  The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine who Outwitted America's Enemiesn by Jason Fagon, about a 20th century female code-breaker who might have, like Emilie, been overlooked due to her alliance with a famous partner except for writers who dredge up the truth from the evidence of greatness these women left behind.

Maybe it was my fault, but despite being intensely interested in Voltaire I just couldn’t get into this. Every time I picked it up there was a vague sense of “ugh, more of this,” and yet I can’t quite pinpoint why I didn’t care for it.

Not a bad read, depending on what you're looking for. Given the very disparate natures of the two great personages this book chronicles, one might approach it from two main angles. Things look very different from Voltaire's eyes than from Émilie du Châtelet's, after all. By and large, the author does a very good job focusing on where the two converge. There are plenty of other interesting facets of 18th century France presented as well, of course.

As a Mathematics major, I was a little disappointed. I don't recall seeing any of Émilie's actual work in the book. In fact, just about the only numbers are dates. This is in stark contrast to Voltaire's work, whose excerpts are scattered all throughout. We're given to understand that Newton was a very brilliant and important person, and that Émilie, by understanding & improving upon his work so easily, was also such a person. Indubitably she was, but it would be nice to see for oneself.

As someone who very much enjoyed Candide and Other Stories, I was anything but disappointed with Voltaire's treatment. Rather, I felt enlightened. There were many such instances of sudden clarity, where I would have to stop and reflect back on one of his stories. The author makes it very clear just how close Voltaire's writing corresponded to the events of his life. I feel in retrospect that I should have known all this before reading his collected works in the first place; I may now have to read them again, for greater insight.

Reminiscent of the books about Einstein's wife - a bright woman who accepts that her name will never appear on the title page along with "His." Du Châtelet possessed a formidable intellect, but still she catered to the egos of her lovers, not uncommon in those days or these.

4 1/2 stars * I absolutely loved this book. As well, I found the title spot on! Although nonfiction, at times the events within it read more like a novel. Bodanis actually discovered Emilie du Chatelet while researching another book he was writing about Einstein. What he discovered was a thunderbolt of a woman, whose scientific studies were a prelude to some of the greatest discoveries in physics, including Einstein's theory of relativity.

Amazingly, the book does not get bogged down with mathematical and scientific theories. While Emilie's findings in these areas are profound, the events in her life went beyond the exploration of intellectual discoveries. Here is where Bodanis shines. He focuses on the intrigues and love affairs that surrounded Emilie's life, most notably those surrounding her fifteen-year relationship with poet and philosopher Voltaire. Through this relationship we get a glimpse of the crumbling social order preceding the French Revolution, as well as the birth of the Enlightenment. The two lovers engage in a robust life vacillating between scientific exploration and intrigue at Versailles. Although Passionate Minds succeeds in painting a vivid portrait of Voltaire as a vulnerable lover, it's greatest achievement is opening us to the world of Emilie du Chatelet. While her life and death intricately revolved around her womanhood, this book succeeds in highlighting her life's achievements despite the limitations of the age in which she lived.

Solid, well-researched history, with biting wit--appropriate to Voltaire. Like most folks, I was unfamiliar with Emilie du Chatelet, a woman out of step with her time. She'd be welcome in ours.

A masterpiece of work by David Bodanis, Passionate Minds is the real-life retelling of the life of the astounding eighteenth century woman, Emilie du Chatelet, and the love affair she shared with perhaps the greatest known man from the Enlightenment -- Voltaire. This book was recommended to me by my sister. As I began to read, it became quickly evident that Du Chatelet was unfairly overshadowed by Voltaire in regard to the impact she had on the Enlightenment. Here is a woman who defied the customs of her day to seek mathematical and scientific discoveries of the world and universe, all with the handicap of not being afforded the great education that was provided to men during her lifetime. She not only survived in a man's world, she out-did the quickest minds of the men who ruled it. Hers was a mind of passionate wonder. Indeed, Bodanis seems to paint his subjects with a flair for understanding that both Du Chatelet and Voltaire were passionate human beings, driven towards each other and towards greater scientific discovery by an inner voice that guided them to become more than what their original stations in life seemed to offer them.

Voltaire, a commoner, defied the bounds of his class to become the greatest playwright and wordsmith the French had ever seen, later to find himself among the elites of the French & Prussian courts. And, despite Emilie du Chatelet's birth into an influential, aristocratic family, the time in which she was born indicated that limits would be placed upon her solely because of her gender. Both would reach beyond the bounds of these circumstances to unite in their mutual search for scientific discovery. Emilie's husband, understanding of her need to use her mind for greater gifts, not only seemed to encourage her need for intellectual pursuits, but seemed more than willing to accept and support her relationship with Voltaire.

In Passionate Minds, one cannot help but note that there always seemed a sense of insecurity with Voltaire. History paints Voltaire as a man of words, science, and moral acumen. Bodanis provides enough evidence to suggest Voltaire is indeed secure in his greatness, but goes further to describe Voltaire as a boastful man, sometimes stymied by vanity and insecurity, willing to take credit when credit is not solely due to him. Emilie, on the other hand, is painted as a passionate intellectual, brilliant in languages, astronomy & physics, and mathematics. If given proper due from history, history would see that she was perhaps the intellectual equal of the men whom she studied, notably John Locke, Sir Isaac Newton, and Gottfried Wilheim von Leibniz; certainly she was intellectually more superior to Voltaire (Bodanis suggests this truth was known by Voltaire himself and perhaps one of the major factors that eventually led the insecure Voltaire to break things off with Emilie).

Emilie du Chatelet's story is one filled with passionate love affairs and intellectual endeavors & discovery. Her teaming with Voltaire was most fruitful, providing for each a safe haven in which they could engage in their scientific labors of love. Their story is not free of disappointments, however, and most certainly, it was Du Chatelet who was at the receiving end of the more heart-breaking let downs that would ultimately lead to her death. Even her once beloved Voltaire was not exempt from hurting her, but through it all, what remained was a friendship, devotion, and bond that stood against all disappointments and betrayals. It is sad that Emilie du Chatelet is most noted in history as the lover of Voltaire. Bodanis attempts to change Du Chatelet as a footnote in history to a more relevant character by introducing us to the true genius that she was. Her translation of Newton's work stands the test of time and is proof of her greatness. The work she did and the discoveries she made would set the foundation for other great minds, most notably, Albert Einstein (in fact, Bodanis discovered Du Chatelet while researching his book, E=mc2). Emilie was superior to Voltaire and any of the mathematical and scientific men of her day in the breadth and depth of her intellectual prowess and understanding.

Bodanis should be commended for shedding more light on the amazingly astounding Emilie du Chatelet. Through Bodanis's Passionate Minds, I hope the world finally pays due respect to the wonderful, richly fascinating historical figure that was Emilie du Chatelet.

Intriguing. Started well and gained quite a head of steam, but fizzled as things turned sour. Had some very interesting tidbits, but the writing was just okay, and I was left just lamenting the state of French society in the 18th century...no wonder revolution was just around the corner.