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80-667: It is the largest Croatian research institute in the fields of the natural sciences and technology. The name of the institute, which honours the scientist Ruđer Bošković , was put forth by one of its founders, physicist Ivan Supek . The institute has a multidisciplinary character; it employs approximately 550 academics and students from the fields of experimental and theoretical physics , chemistry and materials physics , organic and physical chemistry , biochemistry , molecular biology and medicine , environmental and marine research and computer science and electronics. Within Croatia, RBI

160-654: A guerrilla war against the Ottomans , and they formed small units and rowed swift boats. Since the uskoks were checked on land and were rarely paid their annual subsidy, they resorted to acts of piracy . The exploits of the Uskoks contributed to a renewal of war between Venice and the Ottoman Empire (1570–1573). An extremely curious picture of contemporary manners is presented by the Venetian agents, whose reports on this war resemble

240-399: A Ragusan merchant. Boscovich's father was an ethnic Croat (some sources say Serb ). He was baptised on 26 May 1711 by Marinus Carolis, curatus et sacristia . The name Ruđer/Ruggiero may have been given to him because both his maternal great-grandfather, Agostino Bettera, and his mother's brother were called Ruggiero; his godfather was his uncle, Ruggiero Bettera. He was the seventh child of

320-475: A concept of "impenetrability" as a property of hard bodies which explained their behaviour in terms of force rather than matter . Stripping atoms of their matter, impenetrability is disassociated from hardness and then put in an arbitrary relationship to elasticity . Impenetrability has a Cartesian sense that more than one point cannot occupy the same location at once. Bošković visited his hometown only once, in 1747, never to return. He agreed to take part in

400-620: A fatal necessity, or that it was there for eternity lining itself along his own necessary laws are completely eliminated." Bošković also composed poetry with many religious and astronomical allusions. In his Marian devotion , he wrote hexameter verses on the Virgin Mary . In the same dome of St. Peter in Rome , whose cupola he saved from ruin, he worked as a confessor administering the Sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation . In 1873, Nietzsche wrote

480-514: A fragment called 'Time Atom Theory', which was a reworking of Boscovich's Theoria Philosophiae Naturalis redacta ad unicam legem virium in natura existentium . In general, Boscovich's ideas were a large influence on Nietzsche's ideas of force and the will to power. In the 1930s, by Werner Heisenberg nicknamed Boscovich the Croatian Leibniz . In 1935, a lunar crater – the Boscovich crater –

560-589: A knightly chronicle of the Middle Ages. These chronicles contain information pertaining to single combats , tournaments and other chivalrous adventures. Many of these troops served abroad. After a series of incidents that escalated into the Uskok War (1615–1618), the Uskok activity in their stronghold of Senj mostly ceased and were disbanded, but the usage of the term and their existence although more localized continued for

640-496: A lake. As an agent of Lucca, Bošković was sent, in 1757, to Vienna and succeeded in bringing about a satisfactory arrangement in the matter. Here he met Karl Scherffer who became an influential promoter of the ideas of Bošković in Austria. In Vienna in 1758, he published the first edition of his famous work, Philosophiæ naturalis theoria redacta ad unicam legem virium in natura existentium ( Theory of Natural philosophy derived to

720-551: A military parade where he saw a Croatian unit from Ragusa, his words were: "there are my brave Croats". Italian sources claim that Boscovich was remembered as an Italian. According to Italian sources, he was born in a city with mixed cultures, Croatian and Italian, and the higher social strata of Dubrovnik were under Italian influence (Roman-Dalmatian influence). His mother's family came from Italy, and his life and career had strong Italian influences. He moved to Italy at age 14, where he spent most of his life. In some encyclopedias, he

800-486: A period of time. Etymologically, the word uskoci itself means 'the ones who jumped in' or 'the ones who ambushed' in South Slavic languages . The Serbian Cyrillic transliteration is Ускоци , and Slovene is Uskoki . In other languages, the term became a loanword as well — German : Uskoken , Hungarian : Uszkókok , Italian : Uscocchi . The Ottoman conquest of Bosnia and Herzegovina during

880-607: A poet like his grandfather. He was schooled by the Jesuits, then served as an official of the Republic and made his reputation as a translator of Ovid, Corneille's Cid, and of Molière. A volume of his religious verse, Hvale Duhovne , was published in Venice in 1729. At the age of 8 or 9, after acquiring the rudiments of reading and writing from Father Nicola Nicchei of the Church of St Nicholas, Ruđer

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960-605: A priest and appointment as a professor and another 14 afterwards. The following is a partial list of his publications: Uskok The Uskoks ( Croatian : Uskoci , pronounced [ǔsko̞t͡si] , singular : Uskok ; notes on naming ) were irregular soldiers in Habsburg Croatia that inhabited areas on the eastern Adriatic coast and surrounding territories during the Ottoman wars in Europe . Bands of Uskoks fought

1040-510: A state-controlled Militärgrenze, or Military Frontier . The Austrian Emperor Ferdinand I instituted a system of planting colonies of defenders along the Military Frontier . Moreover, the Uskoks were promised an annual subsidy in return for their services. Owing to its location, Klis Fortress was an important defensive position which stands on the route by which the Ottomans could penetrate

1120-565: Is a Serbian scientist or state that he is of Serbian paternal origin. Boscovich himself was proud of his Dalmatian identity. When d'Alembert in his Opuscule mathématiques… called him "an Italian mathematician", he shot back that he was "a Dalmatian from Dubrovnik, and not an Italian". However, he added that he had been living in Italy for a long time since his first youth, so "he can in some way be called Italian". Boscovich published eight scientific dissertations prior to his 1744 ordination as

1200-519: Is a national institution dedicated to research, higher education and provision of support to the academic community, to state and local governments and to technology-based industry. Within the European Union , RBI forms a part of the European Research Area . Worldwide, RBI collaborates with many research institutions and universities upholding the same values and vision. Approximately 75% of

1280-494: Is described as an Italian scientist. He used the Italian language in private, including in correspondence with his brother Baro, and Voltaire wrote to Boscovich in Italian "as a sign of respect". The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts ranks him among the 100 most prominent Serbs , According to one source, branches of the brotherhood are said to have settled the surroundings of Stolac . A number of sources claim that Boscovich

1360-703: Is more metaphysical, placing it in harmony with Leibniz 's metaphysics. Knowing with complete accuracy both the location and velocity of a particle violates the uncertainty principle of modern quantum mechanics , so it is unclear if this is physically possible. In addition to the works already mentioned Bošković published course material he had prepared for his pupils in mathematics. He also published accounts of his travels from Constantinople to Poland , in several expanded editions and translated into French. Bošković applied himself to practical engineering projects, including several discussions of architectural repair or stability, including repairs to St Peter's Dome,

1440-480: Is now Slovenia . Their presence has also been traced near Učka in Istria , where such significant family names as Novlian (from Novi Vinodolski ), Ottocian (from Otočac ) and Clissan (from Klis , older orthography), were noted by Italian historian Carlo de Franceschi in 1879. Determining the exact national or ethnic composition of the Uskoks from Senj is extremely difficult since it is rarely recorded nationality of

1520-513: The equator of a rotating planet from three observations of a surface feature and for computing the orbit of a planet from three observations of its position. In 1753 he also discovered the absence of an atmosphere on the Moon . Boscovich was born on 18 May 1711 in Dubrovnik , Republic of Ragusa , to Paola Bettera (1674–1777), daughter of a local nobleman of Italian origin, and Nikola Bošković ,

1600-700: The Brera observatory. Deprived of his post by the intrigues of his associates, he was about to retire to Dubrovnik when in 1773, the news of the suppression of his order in Italy reached him. Uncertainty led him to accept an invitation from the King of France to come to Paris where he was appointed director of optics for the navy, with a pension of 8,000 livres and a position was created for him. He naturalised in France and stayed for ten years, but his position became irksome, and at length intolerable. He, however, continued to work in

1680-557: The Habsburg lands, Dalmatians, Ragusans and Italians. At Senj, the Klis Uskoks were soon joined by other refugees from Novi Vinodolski in northwestern Croatia, from Otočac on the Gacka River , and from other Croatian towns and villages. The new Uskok stronghold, screened by mountains and forests, was unassailable by cavalry or artillery. However, the fortress was admirably suitable to

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1760-461: The Habsburgs and Venetians in 1618 expelled the Uskoks from Senj, prompting migrations of Uskok families into the hinterland. The pirates and their families were, accordingly, transported to the interior, where they gave their name to the "Uskoken Gebirge", a group of mountains on the borders of Carniola now called Žumberak . They were also settled in the nearby White Carniola and Kostel in what

1840-456: The Ottomans in exchange for their freedom. On March 12, 1537, the town and fortress was given up to the Ottomans, many of the citizens left the town while the Uskoks went to the city of Senj on the Adriatic coast, where they continued fighting the Ottomans. They may have started to gather around Senj as early as 1520. The Ottoman raids and destruction brought Senj natives together with those from

1920-504: The Portuguese expedition for the survey of Brazil and the arc measurement of a degree of latitude ( meridian arc ), but was persuaded by the Pope to stay in Italy and to undertake a similar task there with Christopher Maire , an English Jesuit who measured an arc of two degrees between Rome and Rimini . The operation began at the end of 1750, and was completed in about two years. An account

2000-533: The Turkish war, revealing his favor towards the Venetian side. He soon lost all military support, giving the Uskoks the opportunity to overthrow his rule and was ultimately killed in January 1602, enabling Senj to return to its usual state, with the fugitive Uskoks returning to Senj where they resumed their acts of piracy. Up until 1611 the Uskoks were relatively undisturbed. Piracy was strictly forbidden at this point but it

2080-519: The Turks and other enemies of the Christian faith; and severity in punishing those who were disobedient or rebellious. It was also made known the Uskok qualities that would cancel out one's honor: reluctance to shed one's own blood; failure to engage the enemy in battle; groundless boasting; avoidance of risks on the frontier; failure to take prisoners, trophies, or booty; meanness in rewards to comrades or spies;

2160-594: The Uskoci shortly turned to the seas once realizing the full potential of the geography of Senj. The land was protected by thick forests and mountains while the jagged cliffs near the seas prevented warships from entering. The seas in the Gulf of Quarnero were quite rough, which posed navigational hazards as further protection from their enemies. Uskoks began their attacks upon Turkish ships with boats large enough to hold thirty to fifty men. After 1540, however, Venice, as mistress of

2240-499: The Uskok attitude and motives would change. Today, a historical unit of uskoks called Kliški uskoci ("Uskoks of Klis " | "Historical Unit Kliški uskoci" . ) exists as a ceremonial regiment in honour of the national legacy of uskoks in Croatia. The unit of Klis Uskoks is founded by Croatian war veterans. After the Croatian War for Independence, the former soldiers wanted to revitalize the historical and cultural heritage of Klis,

2320-571: The Uskoks cannot be identified with the migration of the Vlachs. As a group whose central reason for being brought together was Christianity, the Uskoks' explanation for piracy and warfare rested in their religion. These people felt they were fighting a holy war against the Muslim enemy in defense of the boundaries of Christendom. Seeing that these people were once refugees from Ottoman nations, they were given no choice but to leave in order to continue following

2400-401: The Uskoks caused considerable concern in Venice with frequent attacks once Venetian attempts of protection had proven to be ineffective. The following years led the reputation of the Uskoks to spread, becoming the resort of refugees and outlaws of all kinds from all nations. Meanwhile, the corsairs of Greece and North Africa were free to raid the unprotected southern shores of Italy. Venice

2480-403: The Uskoks, (most commonly terms for Uskoks are " Croats ", "Slavs", " Morlachs ") Venetians are described Uskoks as Croats, Habsburg sources also identify Uskoks as Croats. The observers and same Uskoks used terms national and ethnic identity as a way to describe the origin of Uskoks. They use terms Croat, Slav and Morlach to connect the Uskoks with the rest population of the islands, the coast and

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2560-614: The Yugoslav state Post based in Belgrade made a postage stamp and postcard on which is written that Boskovich was "the greatest Croatian scientist of his time". In 2023, Dubrovnik Ruđer Bošković Airport was renamed in Boscovich's honour, while the government of nearby Trebinje wanted to do the same for their prospective airport. The modern concept of nationality , based on ethnic concepts such as language, culture, religion, custom, etc.,

2640-544: The absence of any general recognition of one's manliness; and the lack of battle scars or wounds. From these principles it is clear that the Uskoks admired the strength and arrogance of a hero and despised the weakness displayed by a coward. The importance of these principles was instilled in boys at a young age. Taught to take part in competitions, they would test their strength and dexterity through racing, fighting, and throwing stones at one another until blood ran. Over time, this code would be broken, ignored, and overlooked as

2720-428: The application of mathematics to the theory of the telescope , the limits of certainty in astronomical observations, the solid of greatest attraction, the cycloid , the logistic curve , the theory of comets , the tides , the law of continuity , the double refraction micrometer , and various problems of spherical trigonometry . In 1742, he was consulted, with other men of science, by Pope Benedict XIV , as to

2800-526: The base at Klis both to hold the Turks at bay, and to engage in marauding and piracy against coastal shipping. Although nominally accepting the sovereignty of the Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand I , who obtained the Croatian crown in 1527, Kružić and his freebooting Uskoks were a law unto themselves. After Petar Kružić's death, and the lack of water supply, the defenders of Klis finally surrendered to

2880-516: The best means of securing the stability of the dome of St. Peter's , Rome, in which a crack had been discovered. His suggestion of placing five concentric iron bands was adopted. In 1744, he was ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood . In 1745, Bošković published De Viribus Vivis in which he tried to find a middle way between Isaac Newton 's gravitational theory and Gottfried Leibniz 's metaphysical theory of monad -points. He developed

2960-535: The blood of the victims to flavor their bread. The uskoks would conduct such acts up until 1615 when their piracy went so far as creating an open war between Venice and Austria . Venice, frustrated with the piracy, launched an attack after the Archduke Ferdinand of Styria refused to reprimand the Uskoks. A peace treaty was signed in autumn 1617 which arranged for the Uskoks to be disbanded, as well as their ships and fortresses be destroyed. An agreement between

3040-630: The capital of Carniola (now Ljubljana, Slovenia ), at least in 1757, 1758, and 1763, and made contact with the Jesuits and the Franciscan friars in the town. The Jesuits incorporated his teachings into their lectures at the Laibach Jesuit College . His physics became the foundation of physical lectures as well in other parts of the Habsburg monarchy , and influenced the thought of, among others, Gabriel Gruber and Jurij Vega , prominent physicists of

3120-467: The early years of the 16th century drove large numbers of ethnic Croats from their homes, which in the town of Klis prompted the formation of the Uskok military. Large numbers of fugitives from Herzegovina , Dalmatia , and Bosnia fleeing the Ottomans, joined the ranks of the Uskok bands. In 1522 the border territory of Senj was taken over by the Habsburgs under the authority of Archduke Ferdinand, forming

3200-454: The fall of Bihać , a strong Ottoman army invaded further into Croatia hoping to capture Senj. Led by Telli Hasan Pasha , the beylerbey of Bosnia , the Ottomans managed to capture a number of uskok settlements, killing and enslaving the population. However, the army was routed and dispersed in the following year. Austria was involved in war with the Ottomans and the Venetian admiral Giovanni Bembo blockaded Trieste and Rijeka (Fiume), where

3280-490: The family and the second youngest. His father was born in the village of Orahov Do near Ravno , at the time part of the Ottoman Empire (now Bosnia and Herzegovina ). His uncle, Don Ilija Bošković, was killed by Uskok bandits while celebrating Mass in 1692. While his father, Nikola, had once been a prolific trader who traveled through the Ottoman Empire, Ruđer only knew him as a bedridden invalid; he died when his son

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3360-464: The following years the Habsburgs were at arms with the Turks, giving the Uskoks the opportunity to repeatedly raid Bosnia and Dalmatia. The Uskoks were able to continue doing so up until 1547 when peace was established between the two, forcing the Uskoks to find other ways of making ends meet. As with other Slavic pirates, the Uskok territory was not suitable for any form of agriculture, forcing them to turn to piracy once more. Beginning as inland pirates,

3440-524: The headquarters in Senj. A raid by the Uskoks upon Istria resulted in an agreement between Venice and Austria, and Count Joseph of Rabatta was appointed to act as commissioner to those in Senj as well as the chief negotiator with the Venetians. Rabatta came to Senj in 1600 with a strong bodyguard detail, and was very energetic. His time ruling over the Uskoks was brutal where many Uskoks were hung or sent to fight in

3520-810: The hinterland, but also to show difference between those Uskoks which belonged to other nationalities, Vlachs, Italians, Albanians, Germans and others. Venetian Republic at the end of the 16th century are concerned about the excellent relations between the Venetian Dalmatian peoples and Uskoks. According to them such relationships existed because of belonging to the same people. There were many Albanians among Uskoks as well and many islanders from Krk , Pag , Rab and residents of other Dalmatian islands. All Uskoks were Catholics, while newcomers to Senj Orthodox or Muslims immediately became Catholics. Uskoks marrying women from Senj area and much less from area of Venetian and Turkish Dalmatia The arrival and occurrence of

3600-440: The history and future of every particle. While Laplace's version of determinism is based on general terms, Boscovich's uses physical terms, like position, velocity , direction and centre of mass . Boscovich also (correctly) suggests that the continuity of force is a necessary assumption for determinism, and he presented it in strict mathematical form. In short, Boskovich's determinism is more physical, while Laplace's determinism

3680-701: The institute's funding is provided by the Government of Croatia, through the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports . The institute is organized into 14 research divisions and centers: 45°49′46″N 15°59′09″E  /  45.8294°N 15.9859°E  / 45.8294; 15.9859 Ru%C4%91er Bo%C5%A1kovi%C4%87 Roger Joseph Boscovich SJ ( Croatian : Ruđer Josip Bošković , pronounced [rûd͡ʑer jǒsip bôʃkoʋit͡ɕ] ; Italian : Ruggiero Giuseppe Boscovich ; Latin : Rogerius (Iosephus) Boscovicius ; 18 May 1711 – 13 February 1787)

3760-472: The ladies of the Archducal Court of Graz, where important matters between Venice and Austria were negotiated. From 1577 onwards, Venice endeavored to crush the pirates without offending Austria, enlisting Albanians in place of their Dalmatian crews, who feared reprisals at home. For a time the uskoks only ventured forth at night, during the winter season and even during stormy weather. In 1592, following

3840-419: The lightly armed uskoks who were excellent in guerrilla warfare. The Martolos were employed by the Ottomans to discourage Uskok penetration of Turkish territory, which was not very profitable anyhow. Since the uskoks were checked on land and were rarely paid their annual subsidy, they resorted to acts of piracy. Large galleys could not anchor in the bay of Senj, which is shallow and exposed to sudden gales. So,

3920-658: The local church and the monasteries of the Dominicans and the Franciscans received tithes from the loot. After the War of the Holy League in 1537 against the Ottoman Empire, a truce between Venice and the Ottomans was created in 1539. This led to the evacuation of all Uskoks in Dalmatia in 1541 where they had been defending a Christian enclave in the mountains during the war. Throughout

4000-423: The most important Italian scientists of the period. In 1783, he returned to Italy and spent two years at Bassano , occupying himself with the publication of his Opera pertinentia ad opticam et astronomiam, etc. , published in 1785 in five volumes quarto. After a visit of some months to the convent of Vallombrosa , he went to Brera in 1786 and resumed his work. At that time his health was failing, his reputation

4080-672: The mountain barrier separating the coastal lowlands from around Split in Croatia, from Ottoman-held Bosnia. Numerous refugees from Ottoman areas began settling along this territory, crossing the border to escape Ottoman attacks. Christian guerilla resistance in Ottoman-occupied areas of Dalmatia and Bosnia caused these people to flee and settle down, first at the fortress of Klis along the Military Frontier, then at Senj. A body of these "uskoks" led by Croatian captain Petar Kružić used

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4160-556: The parameters of the fitted model from a greater number of observations. An unconstrained variant of this fitting procedure is now known as the L1-norm or Least absolute deviations procedure and serves as a robust alternative to the familiar L2-norm or Least Squares procedure. A dispute arose between Francis the Grand Duke of Tuscany and the Republic of Lucca with respect to the drainage of

4240-629: The period. Both Vega and the Rationalist philosopher Franz Samuel Karpe educated their students in Vienna about the ideas of Bošković and in the spirit of his thought. In 1764, he was called to serve as the chair of mathematics at the University of Pavia , and for six years he held this post with the directorship of the observatory of Brera in Milan, That is where Charles Burney met him; since Burney's Italian

4320-502: The pirates forwarded their booty for sale. They also erected two forts to command the passages from Senj to the open sea. In 1600, the Prince of Senj was Mickael Radic. The Duke Micheal Radic, appointed as Prince of Senj on 1 December 1600 by King Rudolf in Graz. Prince Radic was Prince of Senj. Radic family is a Native noble family from Lika region; members of the family were Uskok military leaders at

4400-604: The pursuit of scientific knowledge and published many remarkable works. Among them was an elegant solution to the problem of determining the orbit of a comet from three observations, and works on micrometer and achromatic telescopes. In 1782, Bošković was one of the founders of the Accademia nazionale delle scienze detta dei XL ( National Association of the Sciences ), with the name of "Società Italiana" ( Italian Association ): this learned society gathered forty members representing

4480-580: The religion they had been their entire lives. The Uskok people established a code to follow, holding Senj honor and its values in a central place of that code. Honor is what they believed to be the most important quality that a hero could have, which all Uskoks strived to be. Other important aspects of the Uskok heroic honor were loyalty to their city, army, and band; honorable attention to every knight and obligation; readiness to lay down their lives or spill their blood in time of war; experience in warfare; ability to benefit their city; success and glory in duels with

4560-479: The seas, guaranteed the safety of Ottoman merchant vessels, and provided them with an escort of galleys. The uskoks retaliated by ravaging the Venetian islands of Krk , Rab and Pag . Moreover, they utilized the Venetian territories in Dalmatia as a springboard in order to launch attacks against the Ottomans. After 1561 the Uskoci attacked Christian shipping in Dubrovnik with numbers never exceeding 2000 men. By 1573

4640-503: The service of France , and that therefore the neutrality of the republic had been violated. Bošković was selected to undertake an ambassadorship to London in 1760, to convince the British that nothing of the sort had occurred and provide proof of Ragusa's neutrality. This mission proved to be a complete success – a credit to him and a delight to his countrymen. During his stay in England , he

4720-726: The single Law of forces which exist in Nature ), containing his atomic theory and his theory of forces . A second edition was published in 1763 in Venice and a third again in Vienna in 1764. In 1922, it was published in London, and in 1966, in the United States. Another edition was published in Zagreb in 1974. Another occasion to exercise his diplomatic ability soon arose. The British government suspected that warships had been fitted out in Dubrovnik for

4800-537: The spots on its surface. Notwithstanding the arduous duties of his professorship, he found time for investigation in various fields of physical science, and he published a very large number of dissertations, some of them of considerable length. Among the subjects were the transit of Mercury , the Aurora Borealis , the figure of the Earth , the observation of the fixed stars , the inequalities in terrestrial gravitation ,

4880-539: The stability of the Duomo of Milan, repairs to the library of Cesarea di Vienna, and a report on the damage to sectors of Rome in June 1749 due to a whirlwind. Bošković was also consulted on civil works concerning ports and rivers: Ivica Martinovic has shown the extent to which Bošković applied himself to such works, and lists 13 major works: Martinovic's paper includes an extensive annotated bibliography on such works. Bošković

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4960-551: The town whose bloody history gave much inspiration during the war. The veterans participate in historical and cultural events to renew the memory of the Uskoks of Klis. They were among the six historic Croatian military units represented at the funeral of Otto von Habsburg in July 2011. One Special Forces unit of Special Operations Command of Croatian Armed Forces is called Commando Uskok Company ( Komando uskočka satnija ). [REDACTED]   This article incorporates text from

5040-470: The uskoks fitted out a fleet of swift boats, which were light enough to navigate the smallest creeks and inlets of the shores of Illyria . Moreover, these boats were helpful in providing the uskoks a temporary landing on shore. With these they were able to attack numerous commercial areas on the Adriatic . The uskoks saw their ranks swell as outlaws from all nations joined them. Eventually, the whole city of Senj lived from piracy. The expeditions were blessed in

5120-407: The world. We learn nothing from Bošković himself until the time he entered the novitiate in 1731, but it was the usual practice for novices to spend the first two years not in the Collegium Romanum but in Sant'Andrea delle Fratte . There, he studied mathematics and physics ; and so quick was his progress in these sciences that in 1740 he was appointed professor of mathematics in the college. He

5200-706: Was 10 years old. Boscovich's mother Paola, nicknamed "Pavica", was a member of a cultivated Italian merchant family established in Dubrovnik in the early 17th century, when her ancestor, Pietro Bettera, settled from Bergamo in northern Italy. She was described as a robust and active woman with a happy temperament who lived to 103. Paola Bettera Bošković left nothing in writing but her sister wrote poetry in Italian. Ruđer's cousins and playmates, Antun Bošković and Franjo Bošković, grew up into good Latinists. His brothers and sisters were all older than himself, except his sister Anica Bošković (1714–1804), two years his junior. His eldest sister, Mare Bošković, nineteen years his senior,

5280-512: Was 3 to become a scholar and a Jesuit priest in Rome. He also wrote verse in both Latin and "Illyrian" (the Renaissance era name for Serbo-Croatian), but eventually burnt some of his manuscripts out of a scrupulous modesty. Another brother, Ivan (Đivo) Bošković, became a Dominican in a sixteenth-century monastery in Dubrovnik, whose church Ruđer knew as a child with its rich treasures and paintings by Titian and Vasari, still there today. Another brother, Petar (Pero) Bošković, six years his senior, became

5360-403: Was a physicist , astronomer , mathematician , philosopher , diplomat , poet , theologian , Jesuit priest , and a polymath from the Republic of Ragusa . He studied and lived in Italy and France where he also published many of his works. Boscovich produced a precursor of atomic theory and made many contributions to astronomy , including the first geometric procedure for determining

5440-425: Was a Roman Catholic priest, and in expressing his religious views was straightforward. In his most famous book A Theory of Natural Philosophy (1758) he says: "Regarding the nature of the Divine Creator, my theory is extraordinarily illuminating, and the result from it is a necessity to recognize Him. ... Therefore vain dreams of those who believe that the world was created by accident, or that it could be built as

5520-431: Was besieged with complaints from the Porte , the Vatican , and the Viceroy of Naples with his sovereign, the King of Spain . A Venetian appeal to Austria for help met with little success, and the offenses of the uskoks against the Venetians were outweighed by their attacks against the Ottomans. Minuccio Minucci , a Venetian envoy at Graz , states that a share of the uskoks' spoils of silk, velvet and jewels, went to

5600-414: Was developed only in the 19th century. For this reason the attribution of a definite "nationality" to personalities of the previous centuries, living in ethnically mixed regions, is often indeterminable; Bošković's legacy is consequently celebrated in Croatia, Italy and Serbia. His ethnicity is also part of the Serb-Croat distinctions in self-identification of the Western South Slavic enlighteners, that

5680-487: Was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society . In 1761, astronomers were preparing to observe the transit of Venus across the Sun. Under the influence of the Royal Society, Bošković decided to travel to Constantinople . He arrived late and then travelled to Poland via Bulgaria and Moldavia then proceeding to Saint Petersburg where he was elected as a member of Russian Academy of Sciences . Ill health compelled him soon to return to Italy. Bošković visited Laibach ,

5760-504: Was especially appropriate for this post due to his acquaintance with recent advances in science, and his skill in a classical severity of demonstration, acquired by a thorough study of the works of the Greek geometers. Several years before this appointment he had made a name for himself with a solution of the problem of finding the Sun 's equator and determining the period of its rotation by observation of

5840-508: Was named after him for his contributions to astronomy. The largest Croatian institute of natural sciences and technology, based in Zagreb , is called " Ruđer Bošković Institute " since 1950. The oldest astronomical society in the Balkans based in Serbia 's capital Belgrade is called Astronomical Society Ruđer Bošković since 1953. In 1987, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Boscovich death,

5920-576: Was not very good at that time, Boscovich obliged him speaking French. He was invited by the Royal Society of London to undertake an expedition to California to observe the transit of Venus in 1769 again, but this was prevented by the recent decree of the Spanish government expelling Jesuits from its dominions . Bošković had many enemies and he was driven to frequent changes of residence. About 1777, he returned to Milan, where he continued to teach and direct

6000-475: Was on the wane, his works did not sell, and he gradually fell prey to illness and disappointment. He died in Milan and was buried in the church of St. Maria Podone. In philosophy and physics, Laplace's demon is a thought experiment supporting the concept of determinism . It suggests that if someone (the Demon ) knew the precise location and momentum of every particle in the universe, he could in principle calculate

6080-641: Was one of the major problems in 20th century Yugoslavia . A number of sources state that he referred to his Croatian identity. In writings to his sister Anica (Anna), he told her he had not forgotten the Croatian language . In a letter to his brother from 1757, he describes the encounter with Croatian soldiers in Vienna and remarks at the end of the letter: " Eviva Haddick e i nostri Croati! " ("Long life to Hadik and to our Croats!"). While living in Paris and attending to

6160-479: Was published in 1755, under the name De Litteraria expeditione per pontificiam ditionem ad dimetiendos duos meridiani gradus a PP. Maire et Boscovicli. The value of this work was increased by a carefully prepared map of the States of the Church . A French translation appeared in 1770 which incorporated, as an appendix, some material first published in 1760 outlining an objective procedure for determining suitable values for

6240-576: Was sent for schooling to the local Jesuit Collegium Ragusinum . During his early studies, Boscovich showed a distinct propensity for further intellectual development. He gained a reputation at school for having an easy memory and a quick, deep mind. On 16 September 1725, Ruđer Bošković left Dubrovnik for Rome. He was in the care of two Jesuit priests who took him to the Society of Jesus , famous for its education of youth and at that time having some 800 establishments and 200,000 pupils under its care throughout

6320-577: Was the only member of the family to marry. His second sister, Marija Bošković, became a nun in the Ragusa Convent of St Catherine. His eldest brother, Božo Bošković (Boško, called Natale by Roger in private correspondence ), thirteen years older, joined the service of the Ragusa Republic. Another brother, Bartolomej Bošković, born in 1700 and educated at the Jesuit school in Dubrovnik , left home when Ruđer

6400-446: Was tolerated in order to avoid payment of subsidies owed to those of Senj. A Venetian squadron intercepted an Uskok fleet in the spring of 1613 in response to the complaints regarding Uskok activity and, as reported, sixty Uskoks were beheaded with their heads then displayed in St. Mark's Square. In response to this offense the Uskok captured a galley of Venetians, slaughtered the crew, and used

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