From the Dining Room to the Coll{\`e}ge royal: The Scholarly Spaces of the Female Collaborators in Astronomy of J{\'e}r{\^o}me Lalande

Abstract

J{\'e}r{\^o}me Lalande, a famous French astronomer in the 18th century, collaborated throughout his career with several female calculators in astronomy: Nicole Reine Lepaute, Marie Louise Dupi{\'e}ry and Marie Jeanne Lefran{\c c}ois. Taking on highly technical tasks of calculation and sometimes observation, they also took on the scientific ''intendance'' for the astronomer. This management of a part of the scholarly enterprise was mainly carried out from home, as were the astronomical calculations. This space was therefore both a family living space and a space for the production of knowledge. This article will focus on its material organization as well as on the dynamics that took place between the different places of knowledge involved here.