HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Letters to a German Princess, On Different Subjects in Physics and Philosophy'' (French: ''Lettres à une princesse d'Allemagne sur divers sujets de physique et de philosophie'') were a series of 234 letters written by the mathematician
Leonhard Euler Leonhard Euler ( , ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss mathematician, physicist, astronomer, geographer, logician and engineer who founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made pioneering and influential discoveries in ma ...
between 1760 and 1762 addressed to Friederike Charlotte of Brandenburg-Schwedt and her younger sister Louise.


Contents

Euler started the first letter with an explanation of the concept of "
size Size in general is the Magnitude (mathematics), magnitude or dimensions of a thing. More specifically, ''geometrical size'' (or ''spatial size'') can refer to linear dimensions (length, width, height, diameter, perimeter), area, or volume ...
". Starting with the definition of a foot, he defined the
mile The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 Engli ...
and the diameter of the earth as a unit in terms of foot and then calculated the distance of the planets of the
Solar System The Solar System Capitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar ...
in terms of the diameter of the earth.


Publication

The first two volumes of the 234 letters originally written in French appeared in print in
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
in 1768 and the third in
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its ...
in 1774. The letters were later reprinted in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...
with the first volume in 1787, the second in 1788 and the third in 1789. The publication of the book was supported by the empress
Catherine II , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...
with her personally writing to Count Vorontsov in January 1766: Russian translation of the letters followed in
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
by Euler's student Stepan Rumovsky between 1768 and 1774 in 3 volumes.


Translations

The first English translation of the Letters were done by the Scottish minister Henry Hunter in 1795. Hunter targeted the translation at British women, believing that Euler intended to educate the females through his work. The translation of Hunter was based on the 1787 Paris Edition, of Marquis de Condorcet and Sylvestre François Lacroix. The translation differed from the original letters of Euler in its omission of "... the frequent, tiresome, courtly address of YOUR HIGHNESS". The Marquis de Condorcet's translation, made during the
Age of Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...
, was notable for its omission of Euler’s theological references which Condorcet found as "anathema" to teaching science and
rationalism In philosophy, rationalism is the epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification".Lacey, A.R. (1996), ''A Dictionary of Philosophy' ...
. Translations followed in other languages including Spanish (1798) which differed from the original book by a footnote describing the newly discovered planet
Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. Its name is a reference to the Greek god of the sky, Uranus (Caelus), who, according to Greek mythology, was the great-grandfather of Ares (Mars), grandfather of Zeus (Jupiter) and father of Cronu ...
. Subsequent German edition (1847), and French editions (1812 and 1829) were also noted for their reference to Uranus and four minor planets respectively.


References and notes

;Attribution


Further reading

* * * {{Leonhard Euler Mathematics books Collections of letters