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Passionate souls: Elisabeth of Bohemia and René Descartes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 June 2021

Tomoko L. Kitagawa
Tomoko L. Kitagawa*
Affiliation:
Pembroke College, University of Oxford, Mathematical Institute, Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, OxfordOX2 6GG e-mail: [email protected]
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Extract

The mathematical investigations of natural phenomena in the seventeenth century led to the inventions of calculus and probability. While we know the works of eminent natural philosophers and mathematicians such as Isaac Newton (1643-1727), we know little about the learned women who made important contributions in the seventeenth century. This article features Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia (1618-1680), whose intellectual ability and curiosity left a unique mark in the history of mathematics. While some of her family members were deeply involved in politics, Elisabeth led an independent, scholarly life, and she was a close correspondent of René Descartes (1596-1650) and Gottfried Leibniz (1646-1716).

Type
Articles
Information
The Mathematical Gazette , Volume 105 , Issue 563 , July 2021 , pp. 193 - 200
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Copyright
© Mathematical Association 2021

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References

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