9


Women in


History


DiScOvErInG HiStOrY


DiScOvErInG HiS OrY Women and the Enlightenment


During the eighteenth century, there was a dramatic shift in thinking. Sometimes called ‘the age of reason’, the Enlightenment was a broad intellectual movement that encompassed sciences, philosophy and literature. New ideas about the natural world and about society trickled down from the scientists and philosophers to permeate daily life. Women were involved at all levels of the Enlightenment. Some were active as scientists and philosophers, while others happily embraced new everyday activities inspired by Enlightenment ideas. While it is often men like Voltaire and Isaac Newton that receive the most attention, women like Émilie du Châtelet and Caroline Herschel made significant contributions to the climate of Enlightenment. Émilie du Châtelet (1706–1749) is most famous for her French translation of and commentary on Isaac Newton’s Principia Mathematica, which is still in use as the primary French translation today. She also wrote on physics and philosophy. Caroline Herschel (1750–1848) was one of the most widely recognised astronomers of her time and is best known for her discovery of several comets, one of which is named after her. Herschel is unusual among these women in that she actually received a salary for her work, being awarded a royal pension of £50 a year in 1787. She also received many accolades, including being made an honorary member of the Royal Irish Academy in 1846. These scientific and intellectual pursuits also became pastimes of women not professionally involved in sciences or philosophy. One part of Enlightenment scientific endeavour was the project of categorising the world. This can be seen in the development of the Linnaean classification system for plants and in the popularity of building collections during the eighteenth century. Collecting and then categorising the objects within the collection was one of the prime pastimes for women who could afford it. Margaret Cavendish Bentinck, Duchess of Portland (1715–1785) was famous for her huge collection of art and natural history, as well as her interest in botany. Activities such as collecting and botany filtered down into more decorative female pastimes, such as shellwork (ornamenting objects or walls by attaching shells) and the drawing or embroidering of botanically accurate flowers. The most famous example of this can be seen in Mary Delany’s collection of ‘paper mosaiks’, or cut paper flowers, which are made with a high degree of botanical accuracy.


Fig 9.16 Émilie du Châtelet


Kristina Decker, PhD Candidate University College Cork


Women’s History Association of Ireland 240


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