D'Alembert's Principle

D'Alembert is one of France's most distinguished scientists. As he nears the end of his life, he looks back on his friendships with Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Denis Diderot, remembers the splendor of the Paris salons, and mourns his unrequited love for Julie, the woman who spent years deceiving him. At the same time, an exiled Jacobite dreams of journeying to the planets, and in a prison cell two unlikely captives discuss love, language, and fate. Like the movements of an elegant musical suite, these three interlocking stories form an allegory of human knowledge. Deft, teasing, and sometimes deeply moving, this novel perfectly captures the spirit of a lost age.