Nicolas Fatio de Duillier (alternative names are
Facio or
Faccio) (26 February 1664 - 12 May 1753) was a
SwissSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
mathematicianA mathematician is a person whose primary area of study and/or research is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with particular problems related to logic, space, transformations, numbers and more general ideas which encompass these concepts...
known for his work on the
zodiacal lightThe zodiacal light is a faint, roughly triangular, whitish glow seen in the night sky which appears to extend up from the vicinity of the sun along the ecliptic or zodiac...
problem, for his very close relationship with
Isaac NewtonSir Isaac Newton FRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian who is perceived and considered by a substantial number of scholars and the general public as one of the most influential men in history...
, for his role in the
Newton v. Leibniz calculus controversyThe calculus controversy was an argument between seventeenth-century mathematicians Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz over who had first invented calculus...
, and for originating the
"push" or "shadow" theory of gravitationLe Sage's theory of gravitation is the most common name for the kinetic theory of gravity originally proposed by Nicolas Fatio de Duillier in 1690 and later by Georges-Louis Le Sage in 1748...
. He also developed and patented a method of perforating jewels for use in clocks.
Fatio was born in 1664 as the seventh of 14 children of Jean-Baptiste and Cathérine Fatio in
BaselBasel is Switzerland's third most populous city . With 830000 inhabitants in the tri-national metropolitan area , Basel is Switzerland's second-largest urban area....
, Switzerland.
Nicolas Fatio de Duillier (alternative names are
Facio or
Faccio) (26 February 1664 - 12 May 1753) was a
SwissSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
mathematicianA mathematician is a person whose primary area of study and/or research is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with particular problems related to logic, space, transformations, numbers and more general ideas which encompass these concepts...
known for his work on the
zodiacal lightThe zodiacal light is a faint, roughly triangular, whitish glow seen in the night sky which appears to extend up from the vicinity of the sun along the ecliptic or zodiac...
problem, for his very close relationship with
Isaac NewtonSir Isaac Newton FRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian who is perceived and considered by a substantial number of scholars and the general public as one of the most influential men in history...
, for his role in the
Newton v. Leibniz calculus controversyThe calculus controversy was an argument between seventeenth-century mathematicians Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz over who had first invented calculus...
, and for originating the
"push" or "shadow" theory of gravitationLe Sage's theory of gravitation is the most common name for the kinetic theory of gravity originally proposed by Nicolas Fatio de Duillier in 1690 and later by Georges-Louis Le Sage in 1748...
. He also developed and patented a method of perforating jewels for use in clocks.
Life
Fatio was born in 1664 as the seventh of 14 children of Jean-Baptiste and Cathérine Fatio in
BaselBasel is Switzerland's third most populous city . With 830000 inhabitants in the tri-national metropolitan area , Basel is Switzerland's second-largest urban area....
, Switzerland. The family moved in 1672 to
DuillierDuillier is a municipality in the district of Nyon in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland....
. In 1682 at the age of 18 Fatio travelled to Paris to perform astronomical studies under the astronomer
Giovanni Domenico CassiniThis article is about the Italian-born astronomer. For his French-born great-grandson, see Jean-Dominique Cassini.Giovanni Domenico Cassini was an Italian/French mathematician, astronomer, engineer, and astrologer...
at the Parisian observatory. In 1686 Fatio by chance became a witness to a conspiracy aimed at
William of OrangeWilliam III was a sovereign Prince of Orange by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland, and as William II over Scotland...
, which he helped to foil. In the same year he made the acquaintance of
Jakob BernoulliJacob Bernoulli was one of the many prominent mathematicians in the Bernoulli family.Following his father's wish, Jacob studied theology and entered the ministry...
and
Christiaan HuygensChristiaan Huygens, FRS was a prominent Dutch mathematician, astronomer, physicist, horologist, and writer of early science fiction...
, with whom a particularly close cooperation was developed. Main contents of their work were the
calculusCalculus is a discipline in mathematics focused on limits, functions, derivatives, integrals, and infinite series. This subject constitutes a major part of modern mathematics education. It has two major branches, differential calculus and integral calculus, which are related by the fundamental...
. In 1687 he travelled to London and made the acquaintance with
John WallisJohn Wallis was an English mathematician who is given partial credit for the development of modern calculus. Between 1643 and 1689 he served as chief cryptographer for Parliament and, later, the royal court. He is also credited with introducing the symbol ∞ for infinity...
and
Edward BernardEdward Bernard was an English scholar and Savilian professor of astronomy at the University of Oxford, from 1673 to 1691.-Life:...
(1638-1697) and worked out a solution of the inverse tangent problem. He also was friendly connected with
Gilbert BurnetGilbert Burnet was a Scottish theologian and historian, and Bishop of Salisbury. He was fluent in Dutch, French, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew...
,
John LockeJohn Locke was an English physician and philosopher regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. Considered the first of the British empiricists, he is equally important to social contract theory. His work had a great impact upon the development of epistemology and political...
,
Richard HampdenRichard Hampden was an English Whig politician and son of John Hampden. He was sworn a Privy Counsellor in 1689 and was Chancellor of the Exchequer from March 18, 1690 until May 10, 1694....
and his son
John HampdenJohn Hampden , the second son of Richard Hampden, returned to England after residing for about two years in France, and joined himself to Lord William Russell and Algernon Sidney and the party opposed to the arbitrary government of Charles II...
. He became a fellow of the
Royal SocietyThe Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, or even the Royal, is a learned society for science that was founded in 1660 and is considered by most to be the oldest such society still in existence...
in 1688 on the recommendation of John Hoskyns.
He had a very close relationship with
Isaac NewtonSir Isaac Newton FRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian who is perceived and considered by a substantial number of scholars and the general public as one of the most influential men in history...
, and from the beginning he was impressed by Newton's gravitational theory. In 1691 he planned to prepare a new version of Newton's
Philosophiae Naturalis Principia MathematicaThe Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, Latin for "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy", often Principia or Principia Mathematica for short, is a work in three books by Isaac Newton, first published on 5 July 1687. Newton also published two further editions, the second in 1713,...
, but never finished it. Some of Newton's biographers have suggested that the relationship may have been romantic. However, in 1694 the relationship between the two men cooled down. At this time several letter exchanges with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz also took place.
In 1707 Fatio came under the influence of a fanatical religious sect, the
CamisardCamisards were French Protestants of the rugged and isolated Cevennes region of south-central France, who raised an insurrection against the persecutions which followed the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685...
s, which ruined Fatio's reputation. He left England and took part in pilgrim journeys across Europe. After his return only a few scientific documents by him appeared. He died in 1753 near
WorcesterWorcester is a city and county town of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some 30 miles southwest of Birmingham, 29 miles north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people...
, England. After his death his Geneva compatriot
Georges-Louis Le SageGeorges-Louis Le Sage was a physicist and is most known for his theory of gravitation, for his invention of an electric telegraph and his anticipation of the kinetic theory of gases....
tried to purchase the scientific papers of Fatio. These papers together with Le Sage's are now in the Library of the
University of GenevaThe University of Geneva is a university in Geneva, Switzerland.Founded by John Calvin in 1559 as a theological seminary that also taught law, it remained focused on theology until the 17th century, when it became a center for Enlightenment scholarship. In 1873 it dropped its religious...
.
Works
Fatio's greatest scientific success was the explanation of the nature of the
zodiacal lightThe zodiacal light is a faint, roughly triangular, whitish glow seen in the night sky which appears to extend up from the vicinity of the sun along the ecliptic or zodiac...
in 1684, which he attributed to particles reflecting the light of the sun. In 1688 he gave an account on the
mechanical explanation of gravitationThe mechanical theories or explanations of gravitation are attempts to explain the law of gravity by aid of basic mechanical processes, such as pushes, and without the use of any action at a distance. These theories were developed from the 16th until the 19th century in connection with the aether...
of Huygens before the Royal Society, whereby he tried to connect Huygens' theory with that of Newton. In 1690 he wrote a letter to Huygens, in which he outlined his own gravitational theory, which later was known as
Le Sage's theory of gravitationLe Sage's theory of gravitation is the most common name for the kinetic theory of gravity originally proposed by Nicolas Fatio de Duillier in 1690 and later by Georges-Louis Le Sage in 1748...
. Soon after that he read its content before the Royal Society. This theory, on which he worked until his death, is based on minute particles which push gross matter to each other.
However, Fatio is most known by his important role at the
Newton v. Leibniz calculus controversyThe calculus controversy was an argument between seventeenth-century mathematicians Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz over who had first invented calculus...
, over who was the inventor of the
calculusCalculus is a discipline in mathematics focused on limits, functions, derivatives, integrals, and infinite series. This subject constitutes a major part of modern mathematics education. It has two major branches, differential calculus and integral calculus, which are related by the fundamental...
. He indirectly reproached Leibniz in a letter in 1699, that Leibniz has taken hold of an intellectual property not belonging to him and therefore started the quarrel.
To optimize the capture of solar energy, and thereby plant productivity, Fatio in 1699 suggested using a
tracking mechanismA solar tracker is a device for orienting a daylighting reflector, solar photovoltaic panel or concentrating solar reflector or lens toward the sun. The sun's position in the sky varies both with the seasons and time of day as the sun moves across the sky...
which could pivot to follow the Sun. Around 1700 he and Pierre de Baufre tried to use
jewelA gemstone or gem is a piece of attractive mineral, which—when cut and polished—is used to make jewelry or other adornments...
s as
wheel bearingsA jewel bearing is a bearing in which a metal spindle turns in a jewel-lined pivot hole. The hole is typically shaped like a torus and is slightly larger than the shaft diameter. In operation, the shaft tilts slightly so as to contact the jewel pivot hole at two opposite points. The shaft rolls...
in
mechanical clocksA clock is an instrument used to indicate, measure, keep, and co-ordinate time. The word clock is derived ultimately from the Celtic words clagan and clocca meaning "bell"...
. In 1705 both received a patent for that still common technology.
Popular culture
Fatio appears as a supporting character in
Neal StephensonNeal Town Stephenson is an American writer, known for his speculative fiction works, which have been variously categorized science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, and postcyberpunk. He has also written under the pseudonym of Stephen Bury.Stephenson explores areas such as mathematics,...
's novel series
The Baroque CycleThe Baroque Cycle is a series of novels written by American writer Neal Stephenson.Appearing in print in 2003 and 2004, the cycle contains eight novels originally published in three volumes:* Quicksilver, Vol...
(2003-04).
Fatio appears as a supporting character in Gregory Keyes' novel series
The Age of Unreason (1998 - 2001).
External links
- Fatio de Duillier, N.: De la Cause de la Pesanteur, 1690-1701, Bopp edition. On pp. 19-22 is an introduction by Bopp (in German). Fatio's paper starts at the end of p. 22 (in French).
- Fatio de Duillier, N.: De la Cause de la Pesanteur, 1690-1743, Gagnebin edition. For an introduction by Gagnebin, see Introduction
- Fatio de Duillier, N.: "Letters no. 2570, pp. 384-389 and 2582, pp. 407-412, 1690, Huygens Oeuvres, Vol. IX. These letters contain the first written expositions of his theory. Huygens gave an answer in letter no. 2572)
- MathPages - Nicolas Fatio and the Cause of Gravity