Episode Details

In this episode of pplpod, we explore the remarkable life of Jean Le Rond d’Alembert, a towering figure of the French Enlightenment who began life as an illegitimate child abandoned on the steps of the Saint-Jean-le-Rond church in Paris. We discuss how d’Alembert rose from these humble beginnings—raised by a glazier’s wife who believed he would never be anything "but a philosopher"—to become a celebrated mathematician, physicist, and music theorist.

Tune in to learn about:

• Scientific Breakthroughs: His foundational work in fluid mechanics, the development of the wave equation, and the creation of "d'Alembert's principle" in dynamics.

• The Encyclopédie: His pivotal role as co-editor alongside Denis Diderot, his authorship of the famous Preliminary Discourse, and the religious controversies that eventually led him to resign from the project.

• Music and Feuds: His initial support of and later bitter falling out with composer Jean-Philippe Rameau over the mathematical principles of music theory.

• Legacy and Logic: We also cover his presence in Parisian salons, his relationship with Julie de Lespinasse, and his infamous "d'Alembert system," a gambling strategy based on a misunderstanding of probability.

Join us as we examine the life of a man who was once told he would only be an "ass who plagues himself all his life," yet went on to have a moon of Venus proposed in his name.