From the Dining Room to the Coll{\`e}ge royal: The Scholarly Spaces of the Female Collaborators in Astronomy of J{\'e}r{\^o}me Lalande

TL;DR

This paper explores the role of female collaborators in 18th-century astronomy, focusing on their workspaces, contributions, and the interplay between domestic and scholarly environments in scientific production.

Contribution

It highlights the often-overlooked scholarly and managerial roles of women in historical astronomy and analyzes how domestic spaces served as sites of scientific activity.

Findings

Women played key roles in calculations and observation management.

Domestic spaces functioned as important sites of scientific work.

The material organization of these spaces influenced scientific collaboration.

Abstract

J{\'e}r{\^o}me Lalande, a famous French astronomer in the 18th century, collaborated throughout his career with several female calculators in astronomy: Nicole Reine Lepaute, Marie Louise Dupi{\'e}ry and Marie Jeanne Lefran{\c c}ois. Taking on highly technical tasks of calculation and sometimes observation, they also took on the scientific ''intendance'' for the astronomer. This management of a part of the scholarly enterprise was mainly carried out from home, as were the astronomical calculations. This space was therefore both a family living space and a space for the production of knowledge. This article will focus on its material organization as well as on the dynamics that took place between the different places of knowledge involved here.