Emilie du Chatelet
Emilie du Chatelet grew up in a society where there were not many education opportunities for women. She was born in Paris on December 17, 1706 and grew up in a household where marriage was the only way one could improve their place in society. During her early childhood, Emilie began to show such promise in the area of academics that soon she was able to convince her father that she was a genius who needed attention. Provided with good education, she studied and soon mastered Latin, Italian and English. She also studied Tasso,
Virgil, Milton and other great scholars of the time.
In spite of her talents in the area of languages, her true love was mathematics. Her study in this area was encouraged be a family friend, M. de
Mezieres, who recognized her talent. Emilie's work in mathematics was rarely original or as captivating as that of other female mathematicians but it was substantive. At the age of nineteen she married Marquis du Chatelet. During the first two years of their marriage, Emilie gave birth to a boy and a girl, and later at the age of 27 the birth of another son followed. Neither the children or her husband deterred her from fully grasping and indulging in the social life of the court.
Some of Emilie's most significant work came from the period she spent with Voltaire, one of the most intriguing and brilliant scholars of this time, at Cirey-sur-Blaise. For the two scholars this was a safe and quiet place distant from the turbulence of Paris and court life. She started studying the works of Leibniz but she then started to analyze the discoveries of Newton. She was extremely success in translating his whole book on the principals of mathematics into French. She also added to this book an "Algebraical
Commentary" which very few general readers understood.
To realize the significance of her work for future French scholars it is important to understand the social context within which she lived and worked.
One of Emilie's most significant tutors was Pierre Louis de Maupertuis, a renown mathematician and astronomer of the time. The struggle for success did not come easy even for Emilie. As a student her curiosity and unrelentedness caused her to place impossible demands on her tutors. Such nature caused her to engage in dispute with her tutor at the time, Samuel Koenig. Their dispute was about the subject of the infinitely small which ended their friendship.
In 1740 when Emilie's book Institutions de physique was published,
Koenig started a rumor that the work was merely a rehash of his lessons with her.
...e to overcome her father’s oppressive garnered her ‘good life’ alongside the respect her father and his family business (Hobson).
finally the opportune moment for individuals to build a stable family that previous decades of depression, war, and domestic conflicts had restricted. We see that this decade began with a considerable drop in divorce rates and rise in marriage rates, which is often assumed as the result of changed attitudes and values. However, this situation cannot be only just attributed to women’s
...ause of her set out to do something she was passionate about. She gave her research a chance. Although it took more to authenticate her work, she did that in
In America, voting for the President is a privilege and a lie. Many Americans think when they go to the polls in November, they are voting for the President of the United States; but really, they are voting for a group of electors who have pledged to support a nominee for the President. The Founding Fathers were concerned that presidents would always come from a populous state and wondered whether the public would have the knowledge of various candidates necessary to make a wise selection. They did not have access to technology like the internet or smart phones as we do. In most states, as the result of the election, the state awards all its electors to the winning candidate (Belenky 1308). A Presidential a candidate must win 270 Electoral
Her marriage propelled her into the middle class because it gave her social capital. Isabel Wilkerson defines social capital as this, “Social capital usually means emotional support and encouragement from a reliable stakeholder in one’s life, an asset commonly associated with marriage that is itself a form of wealth”(320). In essence, social capital is required to conquer poverty and step into a new class. The best way to attain this vital ingredient marriage. Of all the women who marry, 56% move up to the middle class (a very good amount), but only 1.4% of all poverty stricken women marry (231). Wilkerson notes this about the small number of actual marriages, “’Why do we feel that promoting marriage will solve the problem when there are so few marriageable men?’ asked William Julius Wilson, professor so sociology and social policy at Harvard. ‘we need to find ways to duplicated the kinds of support that come from an encouraging partner’(231). Basically the the best way to get out of poverty is one of the least likely to happen because all the men are duds. Nothing can replace marriage but there are other ways of increasing social
Over the years the incorrect assumption that all African Americans were the slaves and all white Americans were the slave owners, or sellers of slaves during the late 1700’s until the 1860’s is a common misconception. Ever since the end of the Civil War in 1865 the American public, as well as politicians, have used this as a justification for repaying African American citizens for their many years of unpaid, arduous labor as slaves, and planned to repay these citizens by taking the money from white Americans and giving it to African Americans in the form of reparations. Even though idea of reparations is a nice idea, it is not practical because the United States is already paying reparations in other ways, and also because white Americans
Unknowingly to many Americans, when they go to vote on Election day, they aren 't actually voting for their favorite presidential candidate but, they are actually voting to elect a group of state electors, who will select the president on the behalf of the general public. They have pledged to vote for a specific candidate in the Electoral College, which is the group of representatives that actually elects the President and Vice President. Currently, the Electoral College has 538 members who represent each state, equal to the number of representatives and senators that represent the state in Congress. One exception is Washington D.C. who still has three electoral votes, despite not having any representation in congress. For a candidate to win
Sometimes students question themselves if college is really worth it? That question has many answers that only a student can answer and decide for him or herself. For some students college can have a positive, life-long outcome. However, there are many obstacles when it comes to college. A student has to be very dedicated in school, and they have to know how to manage their personal life, school and work. College seems like it has more negative effects than it does positive for some people. For the following reasons college is not worth the cost because it is very difficult to find jobs after graduating or they find a job that is not in their field, some students who are not academically prepared wind up dropping out of school and wasting their money and some students struggle to balance school life, personal life and work life. As a result these students end up dropping out of school.
The complicated nature surrounding Heathcliff’s motives again adds an additional degree of ambiguity to his character. This motivation is primarily driven by Catherine’s marriage to Edgar and past rejection of Heathcliff, since he was a servant whom Hindley disapproved of. Prior to storming out of Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff overhears Catherine say, “It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now…” (Brontë 87). The obstacles that ultimately prevent Heathcliff from marrying Catherine provide insight into Heathcliff’s desire to bring harm to Edgar and Hindley. The two men play prominent roles in the debacle, Edgar as the new husband and Hindley as the head figure who refused Heathcliff access to Catherine. Following this incident, Catherine says, “Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same…” (Brontë 87). Catherine’s sentiment indicates she truly would rather be with Heathcliff, but the actions of others have influenced her monumental decision to marry Edgar. Furthermore, Heathcliff is motivated to not only ruin Edgar’s livelihood, but also gain ownership of his estate, Thrushcross Grange. This becomes clear when Heathcliff attempts to use Isabella
Furthermore, the love that Heathcliff’s young niece and nephew share is one that echoes that of what his and Catherine’s love could have been, which provides even more ground for the fiend to tyrannize the two. The semblence in their relationships can be seen in comparable scenes, the first of which recounts Catherine uttering, “It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now…” (74) Later, Heathcliff pronounces apropos of Cathy caring for Hareton, “Your love will make him an outcast, and a beggar.” (299) The similarities between their two relationships is therefore outlined in their alluded elements of shame and social degradation that can be found in both occasions , and this likeness further agitates the aching heart of Wuthering Height’s antagonist.
she would not otherwise do. The focus of this paper is going to based on the
However, women desired a higher education. Elizabeth Blackwell is a prime example of women’s fight for a medical degree, one of the first STEM environments available to women. In order to kick-start her education she wrote to all of the doctors that she knew, requesting advice and help. However, most of the doctors replied that they thought it impossible, that a woman would not be able to endure the rigors of a medical education, and that they feared the competition that women doctors would bring. Elizabeth persisted, finally making her way to Philadelphia, a city famous for its study in medicine, to stay with Dr. Elder, one of the few supporters of her education. Once here she continued writing letters and actually found many friends who agreed to support her cause, but unfortunately universities were not included in this list of friends. Elizabeth then pursued an education at the University of Geneva in New York where the Medical Faculty and students agreed to accept her. While at first the university cared about the press coverage that Elizabeth’s spot would bring, she eventually established her rightful place as a student there. Although she encountered some resentment among the wives of doctors and other people living in the small town, Elizabeth ...
When we are young, we all have our own unique dreams and aspirations for what we wish to do when we are “older.” As we grow older, we begin to realize that some of our dreams are unattainable, while others are able to achieve their dreams. Whether one is the first person or the latter, we are spoon-fed the idea of attending college. We all hear how college is our “gateway to success,” and how “our entire lives depend on college.” Pressures bear down on high school students, telling them that they must attend college to be capable of anything in life. But people do not realize the detriments that are also associated with attending college. Students should not be pushed to attend colleges as there could be several factors that play in a student’s
“One cannot escape the question by hand-waving at the past, disavowing the acts of one’s ancestors, nor by citing a recent date of ancestral immigration. The last slaveholder has been dead for a very long time. The last soldier to endure Valley Forge has been dead much longer. To proudly claim the veteran and
Fairfax, “Marriage is one of the core values of society. Almost 20 years ago, the well renowned black scholar and psychologist Dr. Na’im Akbar (1991) penned the following: ‘‘marriage is such an important lesson in manhood (womanhood) development. It is no wonder that every society requires some form of it’’ (p. 13).” This coincides with the values that I stated above that were considered important in my culture. Marriage is important to more that my culture obviously but in my culture there is always this well-known quote from the bible: “He who finds a wife, finds a good thing (NKJV Proverbs 18:22). That is basically religion and love in the same