Women translators on the turning point of the scientific paradigm shift

Abstract

Between 17th and 18th centuries we witnessed a scientific revolution in all the branches of knowledge, whose most remarkable names history keeps record of. But behind, on the sidelines, in the distance, many other names – of women too – participated in this process of carrying out different tasks, including translation (especially to / from French, language of greater projection then). We will examine the paradigm shift in physics and chemistry, focusing on this dark zone of the hinge which is needed to explain how this long transformation took place, putting the focus on some female translators, self-taught scientists, whose indispensable role for transmission, dissemination and consolidation of knowledge was veiled or blurred.