Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 20

[cahn]

Yuletide signups so far:
3 requests for Frederician RPF, 2 offers
2 requests for Circle of Voltaire RPF, 3 offers !! :D :D

(I am so curious as to who the third person is!)

Comments

Re: Enlightened Souls

[selenak]

Ah, thank you! Should have checked whether her translation also had the poem! Okay, before I summarize the preface and the poem, let me quote the shortened version of the Mairan and Émilie letter exchange which Lauren Gunderson gives in her play, beause it can't be improved.

Mairan: Madame Marquise,
though you somehow found yourself published on the topc of Force Vive, you rush to judgment like any woman confronted with ideas beyond her skill. My dear, you simply do not understand my mathematics, nor did you properly read my own writing as you misquote me throughout. I would be happy to guide you through my reasoning, if you would permit me at your little Leipniz academy in the fields. But as my equations prove there is no need to square force: Newton is right, Leipniz is wrong, and you, my dear, are out of your element. All you need to do, Madame, is to read, and reread, and perhaps you could bring us something worth our time.

Émilie: Monsieur,
I am sorry to play the mother to your wandering child, but it is, after all, the instinct of my sex to correct a failure in order to educate. ON the point of my misquoting your work. I have included a table listing exact references, so you can stop misquoting me. And I attached complete solutions to all aforementioned problems. I can walk you through the difficult bits. Force vive is the only theory that explains the Dutch experiments on velocity. so I suggest that you keep reading for you've obviously got some catching up to do. Yours humbly, la Marquise.

Now, Luise Gottsched:

Preface: Dear readers, you might wonder why I, who usually write and translate poetry and drama, am now branching out to science, and why you should care about a French academic quarrell. The reasons are obvious.
1.) Émilie du Chatelet rocks.
2.) The great Leipniz is our homeboy, and keeps constantly being denigrated by French Descartes fans who don't want to admit a German advanced beyond their guy, and use Newton as a strawman argument. Reading a Frenchwoman school these chauvinistic Frenchmen and defend our guy is immensely satisfying on every level.
3.) On that note, I am so, so, SO sick of being constantly patronized to by SOME PEOPLE both as a German and a woman. This Mairan sounds like a complete ass, see pages X, Y and Z of my translation. Schadenfreude is also a German word, assholes. Émilie provided me with a lot of it, and I wanted to share.
4.) She's absolutely right about the living force.

Dedicatory poem: Émilie du Châtelet, you rock my world! You have a mind that seeks out all the challenges. Forgive me for a lengthy aside owed to all the constant dissings from your countrymen and certain of their imitators in my part of the world. Firstly, It's stupid to judge scientists by where there are from, but let's be honest here, three quarters of the Leipniz bashing is because he's not French. Contrary to what we're constantly told, though, I don't think we Germans are inferior in thought, deeds or language, and you know what, French people, constantly bragging about your superiority from a hundred years ago just shows you're not so hot now. Ahem. Sorry, Émilie. It just occurs to me that you might be surprised a poem to you disses your countrymen. I don't mean like that! It's just, I have issues. We all do, due to all the - anyway. I think we can agree that it's not the national heritage that makes a scientist great or small but their own efforts. If you were from Germany, or if you founded your own nation in this wonderful sounding place Cirey, you could not be better or worse than you are by your own rights. France, on the other hand, can be grateful it has you, for you are worth more than a thousand of the men currently trumpeting their fame. Please, continue to seek out the truth, inspire the rest of us doing likewise by your courage, and accept your wonderful, clever words clothed in this German dress, yours fannishly, Luise Gottsched.

Re: Enlightened Souls

[mildred_of_midgard]

Émilie is the *best*, and it's awesome to see someone like Gottsched giving her her due! Émilie, you should have gone to Germany. Forget Fritz, you could have had awesome times with this woman!

Re: Enlightened Souls

[cahn]

Émilie: Monsieur,
I am sorry to play the mother to your wandering child, but it is, after all, the instinct of my sex to correct a failure in order to educate. ON the point of my misquoting your work. I have included a table listing exact references, so you can stop misquoting me. And I attached complete solutions to all aforementioned problems. I can walk you through the difficult bits. Force vive is the only theory that explains the Dutch experiments on velocity. so I suggest that you keep reading for you've obviously got some catching up to do. Yours humbly, la Marquise.

OK, I have to quote this whole thing because it's ALL SO AWESOME. Émilie: defining "pwn" centuries before it was a word :DDDD

you know what, French people, constantly bragging about your superiority from a hundred years ago just shows you're not so hot now. Ahem. Sorry, Émilie. It just occurs to me that you might be surprised a poem to you disses your countrymen. I don't mean like that! It's just, I have issues.

HAHAHAHA awwwww.

...now I kinda want a fandom AU where Gottsched is in Émilie fandom and Mairan is an anti :DD