Nicolas Fatio de Duillier | |
|---|---|
 Portrait by an unknown artist, in the collection of the Bibliothèque de Genève[1] | |
| Born | 26 February 1664 |
| Died | 10 May 1753 (aged 89) Madresfield, Worcestershire, England |
| Nationality | Republic of Geneva[2] |
| Alma mater | University of Geneva |
| Known for | Zodiacal light, Le Sage's theory of gravitation, jewel bearing |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics, astronomy, physics, watchmaking |
| Academic advisors | Jean-Robert Chouet |
Nicolas Fatio de Duillier FRS (also spelled Faccio or Facio; 16 February 1664 – 10 May 1753) was a mathematician, natural philosopher, astronomer, inventor, and religious campaigner. Born in Basel, Switzerland, Fatio mostly grew up in the then-independent Republic of Geneva, of which he was a citizen, before spending much of his adult life in England and Holland. Fatio is known for his collaboration with Giovanni Domenico Cassini on the correct explanation of the astronomical phenomenon of zodiacal light, for inventing the "push" or "shadow" theory of gravitation, for his close association with both Christiaan Huygens and Isaac Newton,[3] and for his role in the Leibniz–Newton calculus controversy. He also invented and developed the first method for fabricating jewel bearings for mechanical watches and clocks.
Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London at the age of 24, Fatio never achieved the position and reputation that his early achievements and connections had promised. In 1706 he became involved with a millenarian religious sect, known in London as the "French prophets", and the following year he was sentenced to the pillory for sedition over his role in the publication of the prophecies of Élie Marion, the leader of that sect. Fatio travelled with the French prophets as a missionary, going as far as Smyrna before returning to Holland in 1713, and finally settling in England. His extreme religious views harmed his intellectual reputation, but Fatio continued to pursue technological, scientific, and theological researches until his death at the age of 89.
- ^ Westfall, Richard S. (1980). Never at Rest: A Biography of Isaac Newton. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 494. ISBN 978-0-521-27435-7.
- ^ Fatio, Nicolas (de Duillier), in the Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
- ^ Iliffe, Rob (2012). "Servant of Two Masters: Fatio de Duillier between Christiaan Huygens and Isaac Newton". In Jorink, Eric; Maas, Ad (eds.). Newton and the Netherlands: How Isaac Newton was Fashioned in the Dutch Republic. Amsterdam: Leiden University Press. pp. 67–92. ISBN 978-90-8728-137-3.