Who originated the proposition of the theory of gravitation?
Nicolas Fatio de Duillier Nicolas Fatio de Duillier {'1': ", '2': ", '3': ", '4': "} (also spelled Faccio or Facio; 16 February 1664 – 12 May 1753) was a Swiss-born mathematician, natural philosopher, and inventor. He spent much of his adult life in England and Holland. Fatio is known for his work on the zodiacal light problem in astronomy, for originating the "push" or "shadow" theory of gravitation, for his close association with both Christiaan Huygens and Isaac Newton, and for his role in the Newton v. Leibniz calculus controversy. He also invented and developed the first method for fabricating jewel bearings for mechanical watches and clocks.
Clairaut's theorem Clairaut's theorem is a general mathematical law giving the surface gravity on a viscous rotating ellipsoid in equilibrium under the action of its gravitational field and centrifugal force. It was published in 1743 by Alexis Claude Clairaut in his "Théorie de la figure de la terre, tirée des principes de l'hydrostatique" ("Theory of the shape of the earth, drawn from the principles of hydrostatics") which synthesized physical and geodetic evidence that the Earth is an oblate rotational ellipsoid. It was initially used to relate the gravity at any point on the Earth's surface to the position of that point, allowing the ellipticity of the Earth to be calculated from measurements of gravity at different latitudes. Today it has been largely supplanted by the Somigliana equation.