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Newton for Ladies (1737) – Newtonianism vs. Cartesianism

Newton for ladies

Francesco Algarotti's Il Newtonianismo per le dame is written as a conversation between the narrator and an anonymous Marchioness. The text was written in response to Fontenelle's Entretiens sur la pluralitè des mondes(1686), which promoted Cartesian ideas using the same format of a dialogue. In the original Italian, there are poems dedicated to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and Lord Hervey, both of whom were supposedly in love with Algarotti.

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