Tamwile Elar was thirty-six years old and had joined Seldon's Psychohistory Project as Senior Mathematician¹ four years earlier. He was a tall man, with a habitual² twinkle in his eye and with more than a touch of self-assurance as well.
    His hair was brown and had a loose wave in it, the more noticeable because he wore it rather long. He had an abrupt³ way of laughing, but there was no fault to be found with his mathematical ability.
    Elar had been recruited from the West Mandanov University and Seldon always had to smile when he remembered how suspicious Yugo Amaryl had been of him at first. But then, Amaryl was suspicious of everyone. Deep in his heart (Seldon felt sure), Amaryl felt that psychohistory ought to have remained his and Hari's private province.
    But even Amaryl was now willing to admit that Elar's membership in the group had eased his own situation tremendously. Yugo said, "His techniques for avoiding chaos⁴ are unique and fascinating. No one else in the Project could have worked it out the way he did. Certainly nothing of this sort ever occurred to me. It didn't occur to you, either, Hari."
    "Well," said Seldon grumpily, "I'm getting old."
    "If only," said Amaryl, "he didn't laugh so loud."
    "People can't help the way they laugh."
    Yet the truth was that Seldon found himself having a little trouble accepting Elar. It was rather humiliating that he himself had come nowhere near the "achaotic equations," as they were now called. It didn't bother Seldon that he had never thought of the principle behind the Electro-Clarifier-that was not really his field. The achaotic equations, however, he should, indeed, have thought of-or at least gotten close to.
    He tried reasoning with himself. Seldon had worked out the entire basis for psychohistory and the achaotic equations grew naturally out of that basis. Could Elar have done Seldon's work three decades earlier? Seldon was convinced that Elar couldn't have. And was it so remarkable⁵ that Elar had thought up the principle of achaotism once the basis was in place?

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