BOSKOVIC, RUDJER Physicist-Astronomer-Architect-Author-Priest

Rudjer Boskovic was born in Dubrovnik), Croatia. 18th May, 1711 and died in Milan, Italy. 13th February, 1787. Boskovic was the first man to geometrically determine- the sun's equator and period of rotation by observing spots on the surface. He was one of the first scientists in continental Europe to accept Newton's theory of gravitation. Boskovic was the first individual to formulate a general photometric law of illumination and announced the law of emission of light now under Lambert's name. In collaboration with Christopher Moire (an English Jesuit), Boskovic surveyed the length of two degrees of the meridian between Rome and Rimini, so as to test his theory on the shape of the earth. This project was undertaken between 1750 and 1753. In 1758, while Boskovic resided in Vienna, he conducted his greatest and most famous work on the molecular theory of matter, “Theoria philosophiae noturolis redocto od unicom legem virium in notura existentium". Here Boskovic maintained that matter is composed of massless indivisible point-like structures that were surrounded by a force field that alternately was attractive and repulsive at varying distances from the centre. He was the first person to go away from the accepted massy atoms idea and in the 19th Century physicists such as Faraday and Maxwell used Boskovic's ideas to form theories about the electromagnetic field. Boskovic made the first device for verifying the points of division on the edge of an instrument and was the first to develop a useful method of compensating errors (used in astronomy and geodesy). He also achieved a lot of advances in the field of mathematics, especially in the area of conics. Boskovic was the first to use absolute values in the theory of combination of observations based on a minimum principle for determining their most suitable values, which was later used by Gauss. Why isn't Boskovic a household name like Newton ? He was a Croatian, i.e. his nationality was automatically linked with the politics of the time. He was a Jesuit. Jesuits were banned from 1773 to 1814, which meant Boskovic's reputation would suffer during the last part of his life. For example, a leading philosopher by the name of Kant used most of Boskovic's ideas, however, because of his dislike of Jesuits he never acknowledged Boskovic in his work. England and Germany attempted to dominate in physics. Germans, especially during the Nazi period, tried to propagate themselves as being the only great physicists. Hence the law of emission of light is known under Lambert's name. During his lifetime Boskovic had a great number of enemies which finally drove him into madness. Usually because of disputes with his superiors and at other times with fellow scientists. Laplace used to hound Boskovic over his early method of determining the path of a comet, whereas Abbe Alexis de Rochon and Boskovic were at loggerheads with regards to priorities in the invention of the type of micrometer and megameter. Finally, competing philosophers who used Boskovic's ideas wanted to claim them as their own, so as to gain more fame.

Rudjer Boskovic was born to Nikola Boskovic (a merchant from Dubrovnik) and Paula (Bettera) Boskovic. He started his education at Collegiurn Ragusinurn in Dubrovnik. Boskovic continued his education in Rome, first at the Novitiate of Sant'Andrea in 1725 and later at Collegium Romanium, where he became a Jesuit. Boskovic was noted as being extremely intelligent and in 1735 he studied Newtons "Optiks ond Principia at Collegium Romanum. In 1740 Boskovic was appointed professor of mathematics at this same institute. In 1742 Boskovic and other scientists were consulted by the Pope (Benedict XIV) as to the best way to secure the stability of the dome of St Peter's which had developed a crack. In 1753 Boskovic measured the meridian between Rome and Rimini. In 1757 Boskovic took one of his many diplomatic missions to settle a dispute between the Grand Duke of Tuscany and the Republic of Lucca with respect to the drainage of a certain lake. Boskovic was successful in settling the dispute. Rudjer Boskovic completed his most famous work in 1758 concerning a theory of Natural Philosophy which was subsequently reduced to a single law of the forces which exist in nature. The following year Boskovic travelled to Paris and Versailles to settle yet another dispute. Then in 1760 Boskovic had to defend the neutrality of Dubrovnik. The British government suspected that Croatia had helped build French war ships in Ragusa (Dubrovnik). Boskovic proved that his fellow Croatians were innocent. That same year Boskovic went to London where he already had a reputation of being a great scientist. The Royal Society of Scientists elected him as a fellow. From 1763-1772 he was a professor of mathematics at the University of Pavia. In 1764 he played a leading role in the organisation of the Jesuit observatory at Brera, near Milan. However, in 1772, he was entangled in a dispute with his colleagues, so in protest Boskovic resigned from his post. During 1773 the Pope suppressed the Jesuit order, therefore, Boskovic escaped to France. From 1773 to 1783 Boskovic occupied the post of director of the optical section of the French Navy. Rudjer Boskovic returned to Italy to continue to publish his theories. However, disputes continued to occur in the later stages of his life. His health thus deteriorated and his literary work did not sell as well as before. This finally drove Boskovic insane and he died in 1787. In his lifetime Boskovic was also involved in archaeology and architecture. Rudjer Boskovic is remembered as a great personality of humanistic orientation and an excellent scientist who was far ahead of his time.

11ija D. Sutalo

Klokan

March 1991