Emilie du Chatelet and Euler: A Rare Convergence on the Hypotheses of Physics

TL;DR

This paper explores Euler's and du Chatelet's perspectives on hypotheses in physics, highlighting Euler's early ideas on kinetic energy and their historical significance within 17th-18th century scientific debates.

Contribution

It uncovers and analyzes Euler's early analytical work on the difference between momentum and vis viva, introducing the first concept akin to kinetic energy, and contextualizes their correspondence historically.

Findings

Euler's manuscripts reveal the first analytical explanation of kinetic energy.

The correspondence shows a convergence of ideas on physical hypotheses.

Historical context links these ideas to broader scientific debates of the era.

Abstract

Euler stressed the importance of hypotheses, which he thought were the only means of arriving at a certain knowledge of the physical causes, essential to establish the laws of physics. This thought was communicated to Emilie du Chatelet in response to hers when she debated the nature of forces, defending the Leibnizian concept of vis viva. After examining the Euler-Chatelet correspondence, I introduce a treatise discovered in 1844 where Euler provides the first analytical attempt to explain the difference between momentum and vis viva, and where he defined a new concept related to motion that can be considered the first idea of kinetic energy. These documents have received little attention. In this paper, I examine the topics Euler discussed in these manuscripts and place them in a context within the scientific and philosophical research of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries that sought to establish the principles of nature, and that served as foundation for physics.