{{Short description|French mathematician (1717–1783)}}
{{redirect|d'Alembert}}
{{distinguish|Delambre}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Jean Le Rond d'Alembert
| image             = Jean Le Rond d'Alembert, by French school.jpg
| caption           = Pastel portrait of d'Alembert by [[Maurice Quentin de La Tour]], 1753
| birth_name        = Jean Le Rond<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Launay |first1= Françoise |title=Les identités de d'Alembert |journal=Recherches sur Diderot et sur l'Encyclopédie |number=47 |date=2012 |url=https://rde.revues.org/4949 |pages=243-289 |doi=10.4000/rde.4949}}</ref>
| birth_date        = {{birth date|df=yes|1717|11|16}}
| birth_place       = Paris, France
| death_date        = {{death date and age|df=yes|1783|10|29|1717|11|16}}
| death_place       = Paris, France
| fields            = {{ubil | Mathematics | Physics | Music theory | Philosophy }}
| education         = [[University of Paris]]
| doctoral_advisor  = 
| notable_students  = [[Pierre-Simon de Laplace]]
| known_for         = {{ubil | [[Ratio test]] of convergence | [[D'Alembert force]] | [[Reduction of order|D'Alembert reduction]] | [[D'Alembert system]] | [[Wave equation]] | [[D'Alembert's formula]] | [[Functional equation#Examples|D'Alembert's functional equation]] | [[D'Alembert's paradox]] in fluid mechanics | [[D'Alembert's principle]] of virtual work| [[Fundamental theorem of algebra]] | [[D'Alembert–Euler condition]] | [[Tree of Diderot and d'Alembert]] | [[Cauchy–Riemann equations]] | ''[[Encyclopédie]]'' | [[Three-body problem]] }}
| author_abbrev_bot = 
| author_abbrev_zoo = 
| footnotes         = 
| awards            = [[List of fellows of the Royal Society A, B, C#Foreign members|ForMemRS]] (1748)
| signature         = 
}}
'''Jean Le Rond d'Alembert'''{{efn|Also capitalized as '''D'Alembert''' in English.}} ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|d|æ|l|ə|m|ˈ|b|ɛər}} {{respell|DAL|əm|BAIR}};<ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/d'alembert "Alembert, d'"]. ''[[Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary]]''.</ref> {{IPA|fr|ʒɑ̃ lə ʁɔ̃ dalɑ̃bɛʁ|lang}}; 16 November 1717 – 29 October 1783) was a French mathematician, physicist, philosopher, and music theorist. Until 1759 he was, together with [[Denis Diderot]], a co-editor of the ''[[Encyclopédie]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Jean Le Rond d'Alembert {{!}} French mathematician and philosopher|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jean-Le-Rond-dAlembert|access-date=2021-06-26|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref> 

His most famous achievements include the wave equation, also known as d'Alembert's equation, and [[D'Alembert's formula]] for solving said equation.<ref>{{harvnb|D'Alembert|1747a}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|D'Alembert|1747b}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|D'Alembert|1750}}.</ref> In French, the [[fundamental theorem of algebra]] is named in his honour.

==Early years==
Born in Paris, d'Alembert was the [[illegitimate child|natural son]] of the writer [[Claudine Guérin de Tencin]] and the chevalier [[Louis-Camus Destouches]], an [[artillery]] officer. Destouches was abroad at the time of d'Alembert's birth. Days after birth his mother left him on the steps of the [[Church of Saint-Jean-le-Rond, Paris|Saint-Jean-le-Rond de Paris]] church. According to custom, he was named after the [[patron saint]] of the church. D'Alembert was placed in an [[orphanage]] for [[child abandonment|foundling]] children, but his father found him and placed him with the wife of a [[glazier]], Madame Rousseau, with whom he lived for nearly 50 years.<ref>{{harvnb|Hall|1906|p=5}}.</ref> She gave him little encouragement. When he told her of some discovery he had made or something he had written she generally replied,

{{blockquote|You will never be anything but a philosopher—and what is that but an ass who plagues himself all his life, that he may be talked about after he is dead.<ref>''The National Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge'', Vol I, London, Charles Knight, 1847, p.417.</ref>}}

Destouches secretly paid for the education of Jean Le Rond, but did not want his [[Paternity (law)|paternity]] officially recognised.

==Studies and adult life==
D'Alembert first attended a private school. The chevalier Destouches left d'Alembert an [[Annuity (financial contracts)|annuity]] of 1,200 [[French livre|livres]] on his death in 1726. Under the influence of the Destouches family, at the age of 12 d'Alembert entered the [[Jansenism|Jansenist]] [[Collège des Quatre-Nations]] (the institution was also known under the name "Collège Mazarin"). Here he studied philosophy, law, and the arts, graduating as ''[[Bachelor of Arts|baccalauréat en arts]]'' in 1735.

In his later life, d'Alembert scorned the [[René Descartes|Cartesian]] principles he had been taught by the [[Jansenism|Jansenists]]: "physical promotion, innate ideas and the vortices". The Jansenists steered d'Alembert toward an [[ecclesiastical]] career, attempting to deter him from pursuits such as poetry and [[mathematics]]. Theology was, however, "rather unsubstantial fodder" for d'Alembert. He entered law school for two years, and was nominated ''[[Lawyer|avocat]]'' in 1738.

He was also interested in medicine and mathematics. Jean enrolled first as Jean-Baptiste Daremberg and subsequently changed his name, perhaps for reasons of euphony, to d’Alembert.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Jean Le Rond d'Alembert {{!}} French mathematician and philosopher|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jean-Le-Rond-dAlembert|access-date=2023-04-10|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref>

Later, in recognition of d'Alembert's achievements, [[Frederick the Great| Frederick the Great of Prussia]] proposed the name "d'Alembert" for a suspected (but non-existent) moon of Venus, however d'Alembert refused the honor.<ref>Ley, Willy. 1952. Article "Moon of Venus" in ''Galaxy Science Fiction July 1952''. MDP Publishing Galaxy Science Fiction Digital Series, 2016. Retrieved from [https://books.google.com/books?id=ykikDQAAQBAJ  Google Books].</ref>

==Career==
[[File:Alembert - Nouvelles expériences sur la résistance des fluides, 1777 - 14723.jpg|thumb|''Nouvelles expériences sur la résistance des fluides'']]
In July 1739 he made his first contribution to the field of mathematics, pointing out the errors he had detected in ''[[Analyse démontrée]]'' (published 1708 by [[Charles-René Reynaud]]) in a communication addressed to the [[French Academy of Sciences|Académie des Sciences]]. At the time ''L'analyse démontrée'' was a standard work, which d'Alembert himself had used to study the [[foundations of mathematics]]. D'Alembert was also a [[Latin]] scholar of some note and worked in the latter part of his life on a translation of [[Tacitus]], for which he received wide praise including that of [[Denis Diderot]].

In 1740, he submitted his second [[science|scientific]] work from the field of [[fluid dynamics|fluid mechanics]] ''Mémoire sur la réfraction des corps solides'', which was recognised by [[Alexis Clairault|Clairaut]]. In this work d'Alembert theoretically explained [[refraction]].

In 1741, after several failed attempts, d'Alembert was elected into the Académie des Sciences.  He was later elected to the [[Prussian Academy of Sciences|Berlin Academy]] in 1746<ref>{{harvnb|Hankins|1990|p=26}}.</ref> and a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] in 1748.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www2.royalsociety.org/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=%28Surname%3D%27alembert%27%29| title= Library and Archive Catalogue| publisher= Royal Society| access-date= 3 December 2010| archive-date= 10 April 2020| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200410114715/http://www2.royalsociety.org/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=%28Surname%3D%27alembert%27%29| url-status= dead}}</ref>

{{Classical mechanics|cTopic=Scientists}}

In 1743, he published his most famous work, ''Traité de dynamique'', in which he developed his own [[D'Alembert's principle|laws of motion]].<ref>{{harvnb|D'Alembert|1743}}.</ref>

When the ''Encyclopédie'' was organised in the late 1740s, d'Alembert was engaged as co-editor (for mathematics and science) with Diderot, and served until a series of crises temporarily interrupted the publication in 1757. He authored over a thousand articles for it, including the famous ''[[Preliminary Discourse]]''. D'Alembert "abandoned the foundation of [[Materialism]]"<ref name="lange">[[Friedrich Albert Lange]], ''[[History of Materialism and Critique of its Present Importance]]'', "[[Immanuel Kant|Kant]] and Materialism"</ref> when he "doubted whether there exists outside us anything corresponding to what we suppose we see."<ref name="lange" /> In this way, d'Alembert agreed with the [[Idealism|Idealist]] [[George Berkeley|Berkeley]] and anticipated the [[transcendental idealism]] of [[Immanuel Kant|Kant]].{{citation needed|date=September 2018}}

In 1752, he wrote about what is now called [[d'Alembert's paradox]]: that the [[Drag (physics)|drag]] on a body immersed in an [[viscosity|inviscid]], [[Incompressible flow|incompressible]] [[fluid]] is zero.

In 1754, d'Alembert was elected a member of the [[Académie Française]], of which he became Permanent Secretary on 9 April 1772.<ref>[http://www.academie-francaise.fr/immortels/base/academiciens/fiche.asp?param=219 Jean LE ROND, dit d’ ALEMBERT (1717-1783) Secrétaire perpétuel] ''www.academie-francaise.fr/immortels'' {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531092038/http://www.academie-francaise.fr/immortels/base/academiciens/fiche.asp?param=219 |date=31 May 2012 }}</ref>

In 1757, an article by d'Alembert in the seventh volume of the ''Encyclopedia'' suggested that the Geneva clergymen had moved from [[Calvinism]] to pure [[Socinianism]], basing this on information provided by [[Voltaire]]. The Pastors of Geneva were indignant, and appointed a committee to answer these charges. Under pressure from [[Jacob Vernes]], [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] and others, d'Alembert eventually made the excuse that he considered anyone who did not accept the Church of Rome to be a Socinianist, and that was all he meant, and he abstained from further work on the encyclopaedia following his response to the critique.<ref>{{harvnb|Smith Richardson|1858|pages=8–9}}.</ref>

He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1781.<ref name="AAAS">{{cite web|title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter A|url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterA.pdf|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|access-date=14 April 2011}}</ref>

==Music theories==
D'Alembert's first exposure to music theory was in 1749 when he was called upon to review a ''Mémoire'' submitted to the Académie by [[Jean-Philippe Rameau]]. This article, written in conjunction with [[Diderot]], would later form the basis of Rameau's 1750 treatise ''Démonstration du principe de l'harmonie''. D'Alembert wrote a glowing review praising the author's deductive character as an ideal scientific model. He saw in Rameau's music theories support for his own scientific ideas, a fully systematic method with a strongly deductive synthetic structure.

Two years later, in 1752, d'Alembert attempted a fully comprehensive survey of Rameau's works in his ''Eléments de musique théorique et pratique suivant les principes de M. Rameau''.<ref name="CT">{{harvnb|Christensen|1989|p=415}}.</ref> Emphasizing Rameau's main claim that music was a mathematical science that had a single principle from which could be deduced all the elements and rules of musical practice as well as the explicit Cartesian methodology employed, d'Alembert helped to popularise the work of the composer and advertise his own theories.<ref name="CT" /> He claims to have "clarified, developed, and simplified" the principles of Rameau, arguing that the single idea of the ''{{Interlanguage link|corps sonore|fr}}'' was not sufficient to derive the entirety of music.<ref>{{harvnb|Bernard|1980}}.</ref> D'Alembert instead claimed that three principles would be necessary to generate the major [[musical mode]], the minor mode, and the identity of [[octaves]]. Because he was not a musician, however, d'Alembert misconstrued the finer points of Rameau's thinking, changing and removing concepts that would not fit neatly into his understanding of music.

Although initially grateful, Rameau eventually turned on d'Alembert while voicing his increasing dissatisfaction with [[J. J. Rousseau]]'s ''Encyclopédie'' articles on music.<ref>''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', 2nd ed., s.v. "Alembert, Jean le Rond d'"</ref> This led to a series of bitter exchanges between the men and contributed to the end of d'Alembert and Rameau's friendship. A long preliminary discourse d'Alembert wrote for the 1762 edition of his ''Elémens'' attempted to summarise the dispute and act as a final rebuttal.

D'Alembert also discussed various aspects of the state of music in his celebrated ''Discours préliminaire'' of [[Diderot]]'s ''Encyclopédie''. D'Alembert claims that, compared to the other arts, music, "which speaks simultaneously to the imagination and the senses," has not been able to represent or imitate as much of reality because of the "lack of sufficient inventiveness and resourcefulness of those who cultivate it."<ref>{{harvnb|D'Alembert|1995|p=38}}.</ref> He wanted musical expression to deal with all physical sensations rather than merely the passions alone. D'Alembert believed that modern ([[Baroque]]) music had only achieved perfection in his age, as there existed no classical [[Greeks|Greek]] models to study and imitate. He claimed that "time destroyed all models which the ancients may have left us in this genre."<ref>{{harvnb|D'Alembert|1995|p=69}}.</ref> He praises Rameau as "that manly, courageous, and fruitful genius" who picked up the slack left by [[Jean-Baptiste Lully]] in the French musical arts.<ref>{{harvnb|D'Alembert|1995|p=100}}.</ref>
==Personal life==
D'Alembert was a participant in several Parisian [[Salon (gathering)|salons]], particularly those of [[Marie Thérèse Rodet Geoffrin]], of the [[Madame du Deffand|marquise du Deffand]] and of [[Julie de Lespinasse]]. D'Alembert became infatuated with Julie de Lespinasse, and eventually took up residence with her.

==Death==
He suffered bad health for many years and his death was as the result of a [[urinary bladder]] illness. As a known [[Infidel|unbeliever]],<ref>{{harvnb|Israel|2011|p=115}}: "D'Alembert, though privately an atheist and materialist, presented the respectable public face of 'la philosophie' in the French capital while remaining henceforth uninterruptedly aligned with Voltaire."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Force|Popkin|1990|p=167}}: "Unlike the French and English deists, and unlike the scientific atheists such as Diderot, d'Alembert, and d'Holbach, such English scientists as David Hartley and Joseph Priestley presented their scientific theories as evidence for their scriptural views."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Horowitz|1999|pages=52–53}}: "In positive theory there was a wide divergence between Voltaire's panpsychic deism and Diderot's physiological materialism, or d'Alembert's agnostic positivism and Helvetius' sociological materialism."</ref> D'Alembert was buried in a common [[unmarked grave]].

==Legacy==
[[File:Catherine Lusurier - Jean Le Rond d'Alembert.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Jean Le Rond d'Alembert, 1777, by [[Catherine Lusurier]].]]In France, the [[fundamental theorem of algebra]] is known as the d'Alembert–Gauss theorem, as an error in d'Alembert's proof was caught by [[Carl Friedrich Gauss]].

He also created his [[ratio test]] to determine if a [[series (mathematics)|series]] converges.

The [[d'Alembert operator]], which first arose in d'Alembert's analysis of vibrating strings, plays an important role in modern theoretical physics.

While he made great strides in mathematics and physics, d'Alembert is also famously known for incorrectly arguing in ''Croix ou Pile'' that the [[probability]] of a coin landing heads increased for every time that it came up tails. In gambling, the strategy of decreasing one's bet the more one wins and increasing one's bet the more one loses is therefore called ''the [[d'Alembert system]]'', a type of [[Martingale (betting system)|martingale]].

In [[South Australia]], a small inshore island in south-western [[Spencer Gulf]] was named'' Ile d'Alembert'' by the French explorer, [[Nicolas Baudin]] during his [[Nicolas Baudin's expedition to Australia|expedition to New Holland]]. The island is better known by the alternative English name of [[Lipson Island]]. The island is a conservation park and seabird rookery.

==Fictional portrayal==
[[Diderot]] portrayed d'Alembert in ''Le rêve de D'Alembert'' (''[[D'Alembert's Dream]]''), written after the two men had become estranged. It depicts d'Alembert ill in bed, conducting a debate on materialist philosophy in his sleep.

[[D'Alembert's Principle (novel)|''D'Alembert's Principle'']], a 1996 novel by [[Andrew Crumey]], takes its title from [[D'Alembert's principle]] in physics. Its first part describes d'Alembert's life and his infatuation with [[Julie de Lespinasse]].

==List of works==
[[File:Traité de dynamique.jpg|thumb|Front page of a 1758 copy of ''Traité de dynamique'']]
*{{Cite book
 | last = D'Alembert
 | first = Jean Le Rond
 | title = Traité de dynamique
 | year = 1743
 | edition = 2nd
 | publisher = Gabay (1990 reprint)
 | url = http://gallica.bnf.fr//ark:/12148/bpt6k29043t
}}
*{{Cite book
 | last = D'Alembert
 | first = Jean Le Rond
 | year = 1747a
 | chapter = Recherches sur la courbe que forme une corde tenduë mise en vibration (Researches on the curve that a tense cord forms [when] set into vibration)
 | title = Histoire de l'académie royale des sciences et belles lettres de Berlin
 | volume = 3
 | pages = 214–219
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=lJQDAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA214
}}
*{{Cite book
 | last = D'Alembert
 | first = Jean Le Rond
 | year = 1747b
 | chapter = Suite des recherches sur la courbe que forme une corde tenduë mise en vibration (Further researches on the curve that a tense cord forms [when] set into vibration)
 | title = Histoire de l'académie royale des sciences et belles lettres de Berlin
 | volume = 3
 | pages = 220–249
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=lJQDAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA220
}}
*{{Cite book
 | last = D'Alembert
 | first = Jean Le Rond
 | year = 1750
 | chapter = Addition au mémoire sur la courbe que forme une corde tenduë mise en vibration
 | title = Histoire de l'académie royale des sciences et belles lettres de Berlin
 | volume = 6
 | pages = 355–60
 | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=m5UDAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA355
}}
* {{Cite book|title=Recherches sur differens points importans du systeme du monde|volume=1|publisher=Michel Antoine David|location=Paris|year=1754|language=fr|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=12210742}}
** {{Cite book|title=Recherches sur differens points importans du systeme du monde|volume=2|publisher=Michel Antoine David|location=Paris|year=1754|language=fr|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=12211771}}
** {{Cite book|title=Recherches sur differens points importans du systeme du monde|volume=3|publisher=Michel Antoine David|location=Paris|year=1756|language=fr|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=12212716}}
*{{Cite book
 | last = D'Alembert
 | first = Jean Le Rond
 | title = Preliminary Discourse to the Encyclopedia of Diderot
 | translator-first1 = Richard N.
 | translator-last1 = Schwab
 | translator-first2 = Walter E.
 | translator-last2 = Rex
 | publisher = University of Chicago Press
 | year = 1995
| title-link = Preliminary Discourse to the Encyclopedia of Diderot
 }}

* {{Cite book|title=Traité de dynamique|publisher=Jean-Baptiste Coignard (3.)|location=Paris|year=1743|language=fr|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=15685}}
* ''Mémoire sur le calcul intégral'' (1739), prima opera pubblicata
* ''[https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k38052/f3.item Traité de l'équilibre et du mouvement des fluides]'' (1744)
* ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=c3AOAAAAQAAJ Réflexions sur la cause générale des vents]'' (1746)
* ''Recherches sur les cordes vibrantes'' (1747)
* {{cite book|publisher= Jean Baptiste Coignard|title= Recherches sur la précession des equinoxes, et sur la mutation de l'axe de la terre, dans le systême newtonien|location=A Paris|date=1749|url= https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=161494}}
* {{cite book|publisher= Jombert, Charles Antoine; Bruyset, Jean-Marie (1.)|title= Éléments de musique, théorique et pratique|location=Lyon|date=1759|url= https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=1265357}}
* ''[http://gallica.bnf.fr/notice?N=FRBNF30009144 	Essai d'une nouvelle théorie de la résistance des fluides]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}'' (1752)
* ''Essai sur les éléments de philosophie'' (1759)
* {{Cite book|title=Nouvelles expériences sur la résistance des fluides|publisher=Jean François Louis Chardon|location=Paris|year=1777|language=fr|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=14723}}
* ''Éloges lus dans les séances publiques de l'Académie française'' (1779)
* ''[http://gallica.bnf.fr/notice?N=FRBNF30009155 Opuscules mathématiques]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}'' (8 tomi 1761-1780)
* ''Œuvres complètes'', Éditions CNRS, 2002. {{ISBN|2-271-06013-3}}
* ''[[Encyclopédie|Encyclopédie ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers]]'', Flammarion, 1993. {{ISBN|2-08-070426-5}}
* {{cite book|publisher= rue Dauphine, chez Claude-Antoine Jombert, fils ainé, libraire du Roi pour le Génie & l'Artillerie|title= Nouvelles expériences sur la résistance des fluides, par mm. D'Alembert ... & l'Abbé Bossut ...|location=A Paris|date= 1777|url= https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=14723}}
*{{cite book|language=en
|publisher=printed for C. Henderson : and sold by T. Becket and P. A. De Hondt, in the Strand
|title=Mélanges de littérature, de philosophie et d'histoire
|location=London
|date=1764
|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=7847641&custom_att_2=simple_viewer&search_terms=DTL5&pds_handle=}}
* {{Cite book|title=[Opere]|volume=1|publisher=A. Belin|location=Paris|year=1821|language=fr|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=12418840}}
** {{Cite book|title=[Opere]|volume=2|publisher=A. Belin|location=Paris|year=1821|language=fr|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=12420721}}
** {{Cite book|title=[Opere]|volume=3|publisher=A. Belin|location=Paris|year=1821|language=fr|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=12422650}}
** {{Cite book|title=[Opere]|volume=4|publisher=A. Belin|location=Paris|year=1822|language=fr|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=12424945}}
** {{Cite book|title=[Opere]|volume=5|publisher=A. Belin|location=Paris|year=1822|language=fr|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=12426640}}
** {{Cite book|title=Oeuvres et correspondances inedites|publisher=Librairie Académique Didier|location=Paris|year=1887|language=fr|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=11824502}}

==See also==
*[[List of liberal theorists]]
*[[List of things named after Jean d'Alembert]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Sources==
*{{Cite journal
 | last = Bernard
 | first = Jonathan W.
 | title = The Principle and the Elements: Rameau's Controversy with D'Alembert
 | journal = Journal of Music Theory
 | volume = 24
 | number = 1
 | date = 1980
 | pages = 37–62
| doi = 10.2307/843738
 | jstor = 843738
 }}
*{{Cite encyclopedia
 | last = Briggs
 | first = J. Morton
 | title = Jean le Rond d'Alembert
 | encyclopedia = [[Dictionary of Scientific Biography]]
 | volume = 1
 | pages = 110–117
 | publisher = Charles Scribner's Sons
 | location = New York
 | year = 1970
 | isbn = 0-684-10114-9
}}
*{{Cite journal
 | last = Christensen
 | first = Thomas
 | title = Music Theory as Scientific Propaganda: The Case of D'Alembert's Élémens{{sic}} De Musique
 | journal = Journal of the History of Ideas
 | volume = 50
 | number = 3
 | date = 1989
 | pages = 409–27
| doi = 10.2307/2709569
 | jstor = 2709569
 }}
*{{Cite book
 | last = Crépel
 | first = Pierre
 | chapter = Traité de dynamique
 | editor-last = Grattan-Guinness
 | editor-first = I.
 | editor-link = Ivor Grattan-Guinness
 | title = Landmark Writings in Western Mathematics
 | url = https://archive.org/details/landmarkwritings00grat_141
 | url-access = registration
 | publisher = Elsevier
 | year = 2005
 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/landmarkwritings00grat_141/page/n178 159]–67
| isbn = 9780444508713
 }}
*{{Cite thesis
 | last = Elsberry
 | first = Kristie Beverly
 | title = Elémens de musique théorique et pratique suivant les principles de M. Rameau: an Annotated New Translation and a Comparison to Rameau's Theoretical Writings
 | type = PhD Dissertation
 | publisher = Florida State University
 | year = 1984
}}
*{{Cite book
 | last1 = Force
 | first1 = James E.
 | last2 = Popkin
 | first2 = Richard Henry
 | title = Essays on the Context, Nature, and Influence of Isaac Newton's Theology
 | publisher = Springer
 | year = 1990
 | isbn = 9780792305835
}}
*{{Cite book
 | last = Grimsley
 | first = Ronald
 | title = Jean d'Alembert
 | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]
 | year = 1963
}}
*{{Cite book
 | last = Hall
 | first = Evelyn Beatrice
 | title = The Friends of Voltaire
 | year = 1906
 | publisher = Smith, Elder & Co.
 | url = https://archive.org/details/friendsofvoltair00hallrich
}}
*{{Cite book
 | last = Hankins
 | first = Thomas L.
 | title = Jean d'Alembert: Science and the Enlightenment
 | location = New York
 | publisher = Gordon and Breach
 | year = 1990
 | isbn = 978-2-88124-399-8
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=gwjc3vGW9-MC&q=Jean+D%27Alembert:+Science+and+the+Enlightenment&pg=PP13
}}
*{{Cite book
 | last = Horowitz
 | first = Irving Louis
 | title = Behemoth: Main Currents in the History and Theory of Political Sociology
 | publisher = Transaction Publishers
 | year = 1999
 | isbn = 9781412817929
}}
*{{Cite book
 | last = Israel
 | first = Jonathan
 | title = Democratic Enlightenment: Philosophy, Revolution, and Human Rights 1750–1790
 | year = 2011
 | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]
 | isbn = 978-0-19-954820-0
}}
*{{Cite journal
 | last = Smith Richardson
 | first = Nathaniel
 | author-link = Nathaniel Smith Richardson
 | title = Voltaire and Geneva
 | journal = The Church Review
 | volume = 10
 | year = 1858
 | pages = 1–14
 | publisher = G.B. Bassett
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=mUAUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA8
}}

==External links==
{{commons}}
{{wikisource|works=or}}
{{EB9 Poster|Jean le Rond D'Alembert}}
{{Wikisource|fr|Jean Le Rond d'Alembert|Jean Le Rond d'Alembert}}
{{wikiquote}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Jean le Rond d'Alembert |sopt=t}}
* {{Librivox author |id=1124}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070715044150/http://mathdl.maa.org/convergence/1/?pa=content&sa=viewDocument&nodeId=962&bodyId=1223 D'Alembert's accusation of Euler's plagiarism] at [https://web.archive.org/web/20070713083148/http://mathdl.maa.org/convergence/1/ Convergence]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080705114731/http://www.hti.umich.edu/d/did English translation of part of the ''Encyclopédie'' of Diderot and d'Alembert]
* [https://archive.org/details/anaccountdestru00alemgoog An Account of the Destruction of the Jesuits in France] by Jean Le Rond d'Alembert (1766)
* [https://archive.org/details/selecteulogiesm01aikigoog Select Eulogies of the Members of the French Academy, With Notes] by Jean Le Rond d'Alembert (1799)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081223001059/http://friedrich.uni-trier.de/oeuvres/24/401/ Correspondence with Frederick the Great]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130513161603/http://portail.mathdoc.fr/cgi-bin/oetoc?id=OE_DALEMBERT__1 Jean D'Alembert – Œuvres complètes] Gallica-Math
* [http://encyclopedie.uchicago.edu/ The ARTFL Encyclopédie], a project at the [[University of Chicago]] (articles in French, scans of 18th century print copies provided)
* {{MacTutor Biography|id=D'Alembert}}
* [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/d/did/ The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert Collaborative Translation Project], product of the Scholarly Publishing Office of the [[University of Michigan Library]] (an effort to translate the Encyclopédie into English)
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0038x93 The Encyclopédie], BBC Radio 4 discussion with Judith Hawley, Caroline Warman and David Wootton (''In Our Time'', Oct. 26, 2006)

{{Académie française Seat 25}}
{{Age of Enlightenment|thinkers}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alembert, Jean Le Rond D}}
[[Category:1717 births]]
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[[Category:18th-century French non-fiction writers]]
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