Newton’s Philosophy for the Ladies
Francesco Algarotti
Francesco Algarotti (1712–1764), friend of Voltaire and Frederick the Great, wrote his Newtonianismo per le dame (1737) after the model of Fontenelle’s Plurality of Worlds: six conversations with a Marchioness in her villa on Lake Garda, from the old philosophies of light to Newton’s prism experiments and universal attraction. The English translation by the young Elizabeth Carter appeared in London in 1739. Both volumes newly transcribed, volume I checked against the scan, with Carter’s footnotes, 164 notes on persons, works and terms, and a glossary, by Bernhard Trebuch. Reading sample: the dedication to Fontenelle and the First Dialogue.
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