Talk:Jean le Rond d'Alembert

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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 [1]. Choess 21:41, 9 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

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)[reply]

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)[reply]

Where is the article?

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)[reply]

In the

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)[reply]

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)[reply]

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)[reply]

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)[reply]

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)[reply]

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)[reply]

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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

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)[reply]