Les apports des traductrices d’ouvrages scientifiques à travers leurs péritextes. De quelques réflexions sur Émilie du Châtelet, première femme de sciences en France et traductrice d’Isaac Newton

Peritexts and women in translation are the two main topics of this paper. The underlying research question is the following: what contribution does a translator make to the concept of translation beyond the dissemination of knowledge, especially in non-literary fields? This study focuses on a scientific work by Isaac Newton: the Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica. In particular, it explores the peritext of the first French translation from Latin by Émilie Du Châtelet: the first woman of science in France and, to date, a key figure for researchers on the history of science and gender studies. She worked on this translation from 1745 to 1749 and wrote an extensive peritext (297 pages), often referred to as the “Comments”. A survey of this peritext shows that Émilie Du Châtelet not only clarified Newton's theory, but also contributed to contemporary scientific knowledge and debates. Her active role is worth considering today, since scientific works are less and less translated, with the ensuing loss of the translators’ contributions to scientific knowledge.