  No woman of science has lived a more controversial life nor possessed a most
contrasting character than Gabrielle Emilie Le Tonnelier, Marquise du Chatelet.
One one hand, she was a woman of great intelligence, a philosopher of science,
a student of mathematics, and she was an ardent supporter of Newton and his new
laws of physics. At the same time, Emilie du Chatelet was an aristocrat society
woman who gambled, enjoyed parties, and had several extramarital affairs,
provoking numerous scandals in her native Paris. She was a passionate woman who
was at ease conversing with the nobles at the court and with the most renowned
scholars of her time. Emilie du Chatelet did not develop theorems and she did
not discover new scientific principles. However, she studied mathematics with
Maupertuis and Clairaut to better understand the geometrical language in
Newton's Principia. In this article, we review some important aspects of this
controversial woman of science, exploring her relationship with the greatest
scholars of her time.
