Äron Nošcerey
From Almeopedia
Šm Äron Nošcerey [ˈa: ron noʃ ˈkɛ rɛj] was an Érenati mathematician and physicist, best known for his theory of gravity.
He was born in 3306 in the town of Cyr; as liked to point out with a laugh, by birth he was a baron, though this meant little in republican Érenat. His father was a captain in the Érenati navy, and early on took the boy with him; he quickly picked up navigation, and at the age of 15 (in 3321) invented an octant for measuring the altitude of an object, using mirrors to allow simultaneous viewing of the horizon and the object, which allowed for greater precision and ease of use than the quadrants or cross-staffs previously in use.
Early studies
The next year he began studying at the University of Avéla; his brilliance was soon recognized, but also his great capacity for dissipation and distraction. He spent as much time pursuing women, and drinking, and gambling as he did studying, and he paid no attention to subjects that didn't interest him, such as history or Caďinor. In six years he failed to meet the requirements for the suméria, and yet he was already publishing original mathematical research, including a newly accurate calculation (using infinite series) for the value of pi (in Ereláe the actual value calculated is orondei, 1/π).
In 3329 he began teaching at the newly established University of Cyr, which named him a šriftom. He was an indifferent teacher, but an excellent organizer; his lecture notes on mathematics, published in 3333, were widely used throughout Eretald. His interest in gambling also resulted in an elegant analysis of the probablities involved in games of cards and dice.
He pursued his research into infinite series and began applying it the problem of finding the area under a curve; in 3341 he published a book on celestial mechanics suggesting a method using infinitesimals. This came to the attention of the flaid Bidbo Chunio who was pursuing similar ideas; Chunio was annoyed at being upstaged, and began an ostentatious competition with the young Érenati, who he came to see as his only near-peer. Nošcerey for his part followed Chunio's work closely and suggested improvements, but paid little attention to his rather poisonous personality.
Dynamics and gravity
He became interested in the study of dynamics (beživiso), which had been modernized by the Svetlan Nölne Maranhëya, who proved using an inclined ramp that falling objects accelerate, and first showed that cannonballs follow a parabola. Nošcerey abtracted Maranhëya's observations by positing the concept of a force (pegeo), which he posited was needed to produce an acceleration (rather than a velocity, as in effect the ancients believed). This was equivalent to Newton's second law of motion.
He applied the idea to celestial mechanics, proposing that a force must exist to bend the planets' orbits into ellipses; but it was Chunio who suggested that this was the same force that caused objects to fall on Almea. Nošcerey seized on the idea, applying the term pegeo tombei 'the force of falling' to both-- what we call gravity.
In 3359 he published the basic formula for gravitation, and in 3366 the revised form shown at right. As multiplication is always explicitly indicated in the mathematical notation used in Eretald, variable and constant names can be longer; left to right, Nošcerey's formula refers to dt dimo tombei 'amount of falling', Da deyodimo Almee 'mass of Almea', Di deyodimo Iliažëi 'mass of Iliažë', ȑ retdimo 'distance' (the diaresis indicates squaring), and P pegeo tombei 'force (of gravity)'. As the names indicate, his initial focus was on the orbit of Iliažë, but Da and Di became general terms for a larger and smaller mass.
The term dt (our G) was added in the 3266 edition. Nošcerey had no way of directly measuring either planetary masses or G; he initially was interested only in ratios. He regarded dt as simply a conversion factor to get the right units; it was only later, in recent decades, that it was regarded as a universal constant.
Later life
Nošcerey was given a scrifteca by the University of Avéla in 3361, and returned there to continue his studies; he was not required to teach. He continued his analysis of orbits— Almea's three moons provided great motivation to solve the three-body problem— discovering the idea of Lagrangian points. He focussed however on pure mathematics, simplifying Chunio's notation for calculus and advancing several proofs in number theory.
He married a second cousin, Hloe Čelures, in 3354; he and others often referred to her "infinite patience", which seems to refer to her ignoring his frequent infidelities. They had one child who survived to adulthood, Venamin, who was as noted for his dullness as his father was for brilliance. Nošcerey, who was pleasant with almost everyone, was unable to mask his irritation with his son, and took to taking his meals separately so as not to have to see him.
Nošcerey was raised as an Eleďe, but showed little interest in religion for most of his life. He did attend church with his wife for some time, and even took the time to compile and publish a detailed comparison of the doctrines of Eleďát, Caďinorian paganism, Irreanism, and Endajué, on the principle that anything taught by just one religion should be taken as false, and anything taught by all four as true.
He died in 3387, in legend of a stroke occasioned by Venamin's complete failure to grasp the concept of an infinite series.
