Talk:Jean le Rond d'Alembert

Nobility
I have removed d'Alembert from the category of "French nobility"; the bio indicates that he was illegitimate, and "d'" or "de" is not a definitive indicator of nobility. Choess 21:41, 9 November 2005 (UTC)

Move?
Now that the spelling of the article is "D'Alembert", perhaps the article should be moved to reflect that? Gershwinrb 02:26, 24 May 2006 (UTC)


 * I'd like to see a citation for the capitalized spelling, as all the sources I have use the lower case (most recently 2002, with a respected scholar of Enlightenment France). Actually, pending a convincing citation, I'm going to revert to the lower case spelling.--ragesoss 02:38, 24 May 2006 (UTC)

Where is the article?

Unbeliever?
I just read a small biography about him, and it didn't look to me like he was "a known unbeliever", but just "skeptical", altough not eager to believe like Kant and others (my disrespectuful opinion)... Where did this information came from? Because I do know that some people in France that time were firm advocates of atheism (Diderot himself, if I'm not mistaken), and it matters wether he was a supportive of those clear and firm ideas or not!... -- NIC1138 02:23, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Odd
In the Frederick II of Prussia article, it says just before his ascension that he told the King(bless his soul) that "The philosophers and the men of letters in every land have long looked upon you, Sire, as their leader and model." But it makes no references to him ever meeting the king, nor does it mention what his relation to the Kingdom of Prussia, if any, was at all! I would be interested to know how the two met, and what prompted him to say what he said, so I think it has some importance! 68.202.82.33 (talk) 14:44, 27 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Frederick the Great and d'Alembert kept a lengthy philosophic correspondance which can be found in several volumes of the Posthumous Works of Frederick the Great. I do agree that the description of the relationship with the king ought to be more detailed. --Saddhiyama (talk) 18:59, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

His most famous work:Traite de dynamique
If any of you guys are good in French or can get an English translation of this work of his, please look into it and say here what it's all about. In particular what laws of motion he developed and how they differed from those of Newton.--Q42Dqv (talk) 00:53, 27 January 2010 (UTC)

Related to this is probably d'Alembert's principle. It is mentioned only in the last section (about references in modern literature), but should also be listed in the chapter about career (where he is listed as important member of the discoverers of classical mechanics). Unfortunately I don't know enough history to add a solid statement/ reference. So if anyone knows, please feel free ... MelchiorG (talk) 13:54, 15 December 2012 (UTC)

Atheism or agnostic
i do not think d'alembert was an atheist.

given that the second citation supporting his atheism is a sentence that assumes it is true "Unlike the French and English deists, and unlike the scientific atheists such as Diderot, d'Alembert, and d'Holbach,.", i do not consider this to be admissible.

this author is not a definitive historian of mathematics as, say, carl boyer. thus i am arguing for removal of the second reference.

https://books.google.ca/books?id=gwjc3vGW9-MC&lpg=PA74&ots=bc7C2IEpZl&dq=d'alembert%20atheist&pg=PA74#v=onepage&q=d'alembert%20atheist&f=false When d'Alembert and Diderot began their work on the Encyclopèdie they were pretty much in agreement on basic philosophical issues. ALthough they were both violently anti-clerical, they stopped short of atheism.

this seems to fit the MO more aptly for d'Alembert. i am hopeful some historian of mathematics (PING User:Rjensen) can do some investigation.

while i wouldn't be surprised if diderot is indeed atheist, it does not seem right that d'Alembert is atheist. i do not dispute he was anti-clerical, but so was laplace.

please, someone do some investigation?

ty — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.3.213.121 (talk) 20:24, 9 April 2015 (UTC)
 * Historians are mixed. Hankins 1990: "Although they [Diderot & he] were both violently anti-clerical, they stopped short of atheism"; Ralph H. Bowen (1976): "D'Alembert himself was not a militant atheist but a true sceptic"; however Israel (2011): "D'Alembert, though privately an atheist and materialist, presented the respectable public face"; Vitz (2013) a "skeptical deist who ended up a materialist and atheist" See these citations Rjensen (talk) 21:27, 9 April 2015 (UTC)


 * hi, thanks for your quick and helpful response. doing some more diggin though you see other entries like: https://books.google.ca/books?id=muFlAgAAQBAJ&lpg=PA195&dq=d'Alembert%20was%20atheist.&pg=PA195#v=onepage&q=d'Alembert%20was%20atheist.&f=false where it states he was deist. sigh, it seems i'd need to read his original texts & the dream of d'alembert to truly understand. thanks user:rjensen 174.3.213.121 (talk) 22:19, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 1 one external link on Jean le Rond d'Alembert. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20120531092038/http://www.academie-francaise.fr/immortels/base/academiciens/fiche.asp?param=219 to http://www.academie-francaise.fr/immortels/base/academiciens/fiche.asp?param=219

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.

Cheers. —cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 09:16, 28 August 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Jean le Rond d'Alembert. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20070713083148/http://mathdl.maa.org/convergence/1/ to http://mathdl.maa.org/convergence/1/

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 15:18, 20 April 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Jean le Rond d'Alembert. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added tag to http://gallica.bnf.fr/notice?N=FRBNF37366950
 * Added tag to http://gallica.bnf.fr/notice?N=FRBNF30009144
 * Added tag to http://gallica.bnf.fr/notice?N=FRBNF30009155
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20070715044150/http://mathdl.maa.org/convergence/1/?pa=content&sa=viewDocument&nodeId=962&bodyId=1223 to http://mathdl.maa.org/convergence/1/?pa=content&sa=viewDocument&nodeId=962&bodyId=1223

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 12:46, 5 December 2017 (UTC)

Jean-baptiste?
In the French article he is named just Jean le Rond, without "Baptiste", and there is no source here for this expanded name. Is this name a confusion with Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Delambre? Laugh Tough (talk) 21:01, 25 June 2021 (UTC)

Elected into the Academy... when?
There are In 1741, after several failed attempts, d'Alembert was elected into the Académie des Sciences. and In 1754, d'Alembert was elected a member of the Académie des sciences in the article. Can they both be correct? Latin Beau 04:21, 17 March 2023 (UTC)