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Nicole-Reine Lepaute, a mathematician and astronomer of the 18th century, contributed to predicting the return of Halley's Comet.
Nicole-Reine Hortense Étable de la Brière Lepaute (1723-1788) is an emblematic figure in French 18th-century astronomy. Born in Paris at the Luxembourg Palace, where her father served Marie-Louise-Élisabeth de Bourbon-Orléans, she grew up in an environment conducive to education and intellectual curiosity.
Birth record of Nicole Reine Etable - Archives of Paris
In 1749, she married Jean-André Lepaute, the king's clockmaker, and actively participated in her husband's work, notably by calculating pendulum oscillation tables for a clockmaking treatise.
Her encounter with the astronomer Jérôme de Lalande, who had set up his astronomical equipment at the Luxembourg Palace, marked a turning point in her scientific career.
In 1757, alongside Lalande and the mathematician Alexis Clairaut, Nicole-Reine Lepaute undertook complex calculations to predict the return of Halley's Comet.
For nearly a year, she worked tirelessly to determine the gravitational perturbations of Jupiter and Saturn on the comet's trajectory.
Their prediction placed the comet's passage on April 13, 1758, an impressive estimate given the tools of the time, even though the comet actually passed on March 13.
Despite her crucial role, her name does not appear in the list of Clairaut's assistant calculators, likely due to social reasons of the time. However, her work was recognized by her peers, notably by Jean-Baptiste Delambre, who emphasized her essential contribution to the prediction of the comet's return.
Subsequently, Nicole-Reine Lepaute collaborated with Lalande on the creation of ephemerides, particularly for the 1761 transit of Venus, a major event that mobilized many astronomers.
She also wrote memoirs for the Royal Academy of Béziers, which elected her as an associate member in recognition of her contributions.
In 1764, she precisely calculated the annular solar eclipse of April 1st, publishing a detailed map of the eclipse's progression across Europe. This work was published in the "Mémoires de Trévoux," once again demonstrating her expertise in astronomy.
The life and work of Nicole-Reine Lepaute illustrate the essential role that women have played, often in the shadows, in the development of science.
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