Émilie du Châtelet was an incredible woman. Born to an aristocratic Parisian family in 1706, she became one of the foremost intellectual figures of her day. The lover of Voltaire, the couple founded an intellectual retreat and laboratory at their countryside residence in Cirey, where she corresponded with the major scholars of her day. Although Voltaire has long been upheld as a literary genius, it is now understood that she far outshone him as a scientific figure - her first class mind, coupled with a natural sense of enquiry and a methodical, logical nature, allowed her to make connections between different ideas, making a tremendous contribution to the intellectual advances of the Enlightenment period.

Her life was characterised by excitement and passion. Married to a wealthy military officer, she had a series of extra-marital relationships and affairs with many of France’s most brilliant and eligible bachelors and married men. Indeed, her life was tragically cut short when a fling with a young poet, Saint-Lambert, resulted in an unfortunate and ultimately fatal pregnancy at the age of forty-two. A resolutely practical and individual woman, Émilie rejected the fashions and customs of the women of her day, and instead opted for a life dedicated to pursuing her own interests and wishes. For example, much of her personal fortune was spent on amassing a library of thousands of books and busts of philosophers and scientists decorated her home at Cirey. She travelled across Europe where she dined with and entertained kings, emperors, philosophers, scientists and poets. All commented on her beauty, passion and evident brilliance.