Roger Joseph Boscovich (, ; ;
; 18 May 1711 – 13 February 1787) was a
Croatian physicist
A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...
,
astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...
,
mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...
,
philosopher
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
,
diplomat
A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...
,
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
,
theologian
Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...
,
Jesuit
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...
, and a
polymath
A polymath or polyhistor is an individual whose knowledge spans many different subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. Polymaths often prefer a specific context in which to explain their knowledge, ...
from the
Republic of Ragusa
The Republic of Ragusa, or the Republic of Dubrovnik, was an maritime republics, aristocratic maritime republic centered on the city of Dubrovnik (''Ragusa'' in Italian and Latin; ''Raguxa'' in Venetian) in South Dalmatia (today in southernmost ...
.
[Biography: Roger Joseph Boscovich, S.J.](_blank)
Fairchild University website. He studied and lived in Italy and France where he also published many of his works.
Boscovich produced a precursor of
atomic theory
Atomic theory is the scientific theory that matter is composed of particles called atoms. The definition of the word "atom" has changed over the years in response to scientific discoveries. Initially, it referred to a hypothetical concept of ...
and made many contributions to
astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...
, including the first geometric procedure for determining the
equator
The equator is the circle of latitude that divides Earth into the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Southern Hemispheres of Earth, hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, about in circumferen ...
of a rotating
planet
A planet is a large, Hydrostatic equilibrium, rounded Astronomical object, astronomical body that is generally required to be in orbit around a star, stellar remnant, or brown dwarf, and is not one itself. The Solar System has eight planets b ...
from three
observation
Observation in the natural sciences is an act or instance of noticing or perceiving and the acquisition of information from a primary source. In living beings, observation employs the senses. In science, observation can also involve the percep ...
s of a surface feature and for computing the
orbit
In celestial mechanics, an orbit (also known as orbital revolution) is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an ...
of a planet from three observations of its position. In 1753 he also discovered the absence of an atmosphere on the
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...
.
Biography
Early years
Boscovich was born on 18 May 1711 in
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...
,
Republic of Ragusa
The Republic of Ragusa, or the Republic of Dubrovnik, was an maritime republics, aristocratic maritime republic centered on the city of Dubrovnik (''Ragusa'' in Italian and Latin; ''Raguxa'' in Venetian) in South Dalmatia (today in southernmost ...
, to Paola Bettera (1674–1777), daughter of a local nobleman of
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
origin, and
Nikola Bošković, a Ragusan merchant. Boscovich's father was an ethnic
Croat
The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...
(some sources say
Serb
The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history, and language. They primarily live in Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia ...
). 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 the family and the second youngest. His father was born in the village of
Orahov Do near
Ravno
Ravno ( sr-cyrl, Равно) is a village and municipality located in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ravno was a separate municipality until 1963, when it became a part ...
, at the time part of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
(now
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
).
['"Roger Joseph Boscovich'" SJ FRS, 1711–1787 ''Studies of his life and work on the 250th anniversary of his birth''](_blank)
edited L L Whyte, George Allen and Unwin, London, 1961.
His uncle, Don Ilija Bošković, was killed by
Uskok
The Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime (), better known as USKOK, is a body of the Croatian criminal justice system, attached to the State's Attorney Office and specializing in investigations related to corruption and ...
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 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
Bergamo ( , ; ) is a city in the Alps, alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from the alpine lakes Lake Como, Como and Lake Iseo, Iseo and 70 km (43 mi) from Lake Garda, Garda and Lake ...
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, 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 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 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 was sent for schooling to the local
Jesuit
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
''
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
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...
, famous for its education of youth and at that time having some 800 establishments and 200,000 pupils under its care throughout 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
Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
and
physics
Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...
; and so quick was his progress in these sciences that in 1740 he was appointed professor of mathematics in the college.
He 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
The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...
's equator and determining the period of its rotation by observation of the spots on its surface.
Middle years
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
file:Mercury transit symbol.svg, frameless, upright=0.5
A transit of Mercury across the Sun takes place when the planet Mercury (planet), Mercury passes directly between the Sun and a superior planet. During a Astronomical transit, transit, Merc ...
, the
Aurora Borealis
An aurora ( aurorae or auroras),
also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...
, the
figure of the Earth
In geodesy, the figure of the Earth is the size and shape used to model planet Earth. The kind of figure depends on application, including the precision needed for the model. A spherical Earth is a well-known historical approximation that is ...
, the observation of the
fixed stars
In astronomy, the fixed stars () are the luminary points, mainly stars, that appear not to move relative to one another against the darkness of the night sky in the background. This is in contrast to those lights visible to the naked eye, name ...
, the inequalities in terrestrial
gravitation
In physics, gravity (), also known as gravitation or a gravitational interaction, is a fundamental interaction, a mutual attraction between all massive particles. On Earth, gravity takes a slightly different meaning: the observed force b ...
, the application of
mathematics
Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
to the theory of the
telescope
A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorption, or Reflection (physics), reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally, it was an optical instrument using len ...
, the limits of certainty in astronomical observations, the solid of greatest attraction, the
cycloid
In geometry, a cycloid is the curve traced by a point on a circle as it Rolling, rolls along a Line (geometry), straight line without slipping. A cycloid is a specific form of trochoid and is an example of a roulette (curve), roulette, a curve g ...
, the
logistic curve
A logistic function or logistic curve is a common S-shaped curve (sigmoid function, sigmoid curve) with the equation
f(x) = \frac
where
The logistic function has domain the real numbers, the limit as x \to -\infty is 0, and the limit as x \ ...
, the theory of
comet
A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma surrounding ...
s, the
tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another.
Tide tables ...
s, the law of
continuity, the
double refraction micrometer, and various problems of
spherical trigonometry
Spherical trigonometry is the branch of spherical geometry that deals with the metrical relationships between the edge (geometry), sides and angles of spherical triangles, traditionally expressed using trigonometric functions. On the sphere, ge ...
.
In 1742, he was consulted, with other men of science, by
Pope Benedict XIV
Pope Benedict XIV (; ; 31 March 1675 – 3 May 1758), born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 17 August 1740 to his death in May 1758. Pope Benedict X (1058–1059) is now con ...
, as to 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
Sir Isaac Newton () was an English polymath active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author. Newton was a key figure in the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment that followed ...
's gravitational theory and
Gottfried Leibniz
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (or Leibnitz; – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat who is credited, alongside Isaac Newton, Sir Isaac Newton, with the creation of calculus in ad ...
's
metaphysical theory of
monad
Monad may refer to:
Philosophy
* Monad (philosophy), a term meaning "unit"
**Monism, the concept of "one essence" in the metaphysical and theological theory
** Monad (Gnosticism), the most primal aspect of God in Gnosticism
* ''Great Monad'', an ...
-points. He developed a concept of "impenetrability" as a property of hard bodies which explained their behaviour in terms of
force
In physics, a force is an influence that can cause an Physical object, object to change its velocity unless counterbalanced by other forces. In mechanics, force makes ideas like 'pushing' or 'pulling' mathematically precise. Because the Magnitu ...
rather than
matter
In classical physics and general chemistry, matter is any substance that has mass and takes up space by having volume. All everyday objects that can be touched are ultimately composed of atoms, which are made up of interacting subatomic pa ...
. 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 the Portuguese expedition for the survey of
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
and the
arc measurement
Arc measurement, sometimes called degree measurement (), is the astrogeodetic technique of determining the radius of Earth and, by Circumference#Circle, extension, Earth's circumference, its circumference. More specifically, it seeks to determine ...
of a degree of
latitude
In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate system, geographic coordinate that specifies the north-south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from −90° at t ...
(
meridian arc
In geodesy and navigation, a meridian arc is the curve (geometry), curve between two points near the Earth's surface having the same longitude. The term may refer either to a arc (geometry), segment of the meridian (geography), meridian, or to its ...
), but was persuaded by the Pope to stay in Italy and to undertake a similar task there with
Christopher Maire, an English
Jesuit
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
who measured an arc of two degrees between Rome and
Rimini
Rimini ( , ; or ; ) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy.
Sprawling along the Adriatic Sea, Rimini is situated at a strategically-important north-south passage along the coast at the southern tip of the Po Valley. It is ...
. The operation began at the end of 1750, and was completed in about two years. An account 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 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
Least absolute deviations (LAD), also known as least absolute errors (LAE), least absolute residuals (LAR), or least absolute values (LAV), is a statistical optimality criterion and a statistical optimization technique based on minimizing the su ...
procedure and serves as a robust alternative to the familiar L2-norm or Least Squares procedure.
A dispute arose between
Francis
Francis may refer to:
People and characters
*Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church (2013–2025)
*Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Francis (surname)
* Francis, a character played by YouTuber Boogie2 ...
the
Grand Duke of Tuscany
Grand may refer to:
People with the name
* Grand (surname)
* Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor
Places
* Grand, Oklahoma, USA
* Grand, Vosges, village and commune in France with Gallo-Roman amphitheatre
* Grand County (disambiguation), se ...
and the
Republic of Lucca
The Republic of Lucca () was a medieval and early modern state that was centered on the Italian city of Lucca in Tuscany, which lasted from 1160 to 1805.
Its territory extended beyond the city of Lucca, reaching the surrounding countryside in th ...
with respect to the drainage of a lake. As an agent of Lucca, Bošković was sent, in 1757, to
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
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
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
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 the single Law of forces which exist in Nature''), containing his
atomic theory
Atomic theory is the scientific theory that matter is composed of particles called atoms. The definition of the word "atom" has changed over the years in response to scientific discoveries. Initially, it referred to a hypothetical concept of ...
and his theory of
force
In physics, a force is an influence that can cause an Physical object, object to change its velocity unless counterbalanced by other forces. In mechanics, force makes ideas like 'pushing' or 'pulling' mathematically precise. Because the Magnitu ...
s.
A second edition was published in 1763 in
Venice
Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
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
Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
in 1974.
File:Boscovich-2.jpg, alt=, Outside of a 1763 copy of Boscovich's ''"Theoria philosophiae naturalis, redacta ad unicam legem virium in natura existentium"''
File:Boscovich-2 (3).jpg, alt=, Opening page ''"Theoria philosophiae naturalis"''
File:Boscovich-2 (2).jpg, alt=, First page of ''"Theoria philosophiae naturalis"''
Another occasion to exercise his diplomatic ability soon arose. The
British government
His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. suspected that
warship
A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is used for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the navy branch of the armed forces of a nation, though they have also been operated by individuals, cooperatives and corporations. As well as b ...
s had been fitted out in Dubrovnik for the service of
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, and that therefore the
neutrality of the republic had been violated. Bošković was selected to undertake an
ambassador
An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...
ship to
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
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
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, he was elected as a
fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
.
In 1761, astronomers were preparing to observe the
transit of Venus
A transit of Venus takes place when Venus passes directly between the Sun and the Earth (or any other superior planet), becoming visible against (and hence obscuring a small portion of) the solar disk. During a transit, Venus is visible as ...
across the Sun. Under the influence of the Royal Society, Bošković decided to travel to
Constantinople
Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
. He arrived late and then travelled to
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
via
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
and
Moldavia
Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...
then proceeding to
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
where he was elected as a member of
Russian Academy of Sciences. Ill health compelled him soon to return to Italy.
Bošković visited
Laibach, the capital of
Carniola
Carniola ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region that comprised parts of present-day Slovenia. Although as a whole it does not exist anymore, Slovenes living within the former borders of the region still tend to identify with its traditional parts Upp ...
(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
The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...
, and influenced the thought of, among others,
Gabriel Gruber and
Jurij Vega, prominent physicists of 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.
Late years
In 1764, he was called to serve as the chair of mathematics at the
University of Pavia
The University of Pavia (, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; ) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest un ...
, and for six years he held this post with the directorship of the
observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed.
Th ...
of
Brera in Milan, That is where
Charles Burney
Charles Burney (7 April 1726 – 12 April 1814) was an English music historian, composer and musician. He was the father of the writers Frances Burney and Sarah Burney, of the explorer James Burney, and of Charles Burney, a classicis ...
met him; since Burney's Italian was not very good at that time, Boscovich obliged him speaking French.
He was invited by the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
of London to undertake an expedition to California to observe the
transit of Venus
A transit of Venus takes place when Venus passes directly between the Sun and the Earth (or any other superior planet), becoming visible against (and hence obscuring a small portion of) the solar disk. During a transit, Venus is visible as ...
in 1769 again, but this was prevented by the recent decree of the Spanish government expelling Jesuits from its
dominion
A dominion was any of several largely self-governance, self-governing countries of the British Empire, once known collectively as the ''British Commonwealth of Nations''. Progressing from colonies, their degrees of self-governing colony, colon ...
s. 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 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
Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of optical instruments, instruments that use or Photodetector, detect it. Optics usually describes t ...
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 the pursuit of scientific knowledge and published many remarkable works. Among them was an elegant solution to the problem of determining the
orbit
In celestial mechanics, an orbit (also known as orbital revolution) is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an ...
of a
comet
A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma surrounding ...
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 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
Vallombrosa is a toponym which indicates both a forest and a ''frazione'', located within this forest, in the territory of the Reggello, Commune of Reggello, in the Metropolitan City of Florence, in the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany.
The villag ...
, he went to Brera in 1786 and resumed his work. At that time his health was failing, his reputation 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.
Boscovich's demon
In philosophy and physics,
Laplace's demon
In the history of science, Laplace's demon was a notable published articulation of causal determinism on a scientific basis by Pierre-Simon Laplace in 1814. According to determinism, if someone (the demon) knows the precise location and moment ...
is a
thought experiment
A thought experiment is an imaginary scenario that is meant to elucidate or test an argument or theory. It is often an experiment that would be hard, impossible, or unethical to actually perform. It can also be an abstract hypothetical that is ...
supporting the concept of
determinism
Determinism is the Metaphysics, metaphysical view that all events within the universe (or multiverse) can occur only in one possible way. Deterministic theories throughout the history of philosophy have developed from diverse and sometimes ov ...
. It suggests that if someone (the
Demon
A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including
f ...
) knew the precise location and momentum of every particle in the universe, he could in principle calculate 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
Velocity is a measurement of speed in a certain direction of motion. It is a fundamental concept in kinematics, the branch of classical mechanics that describes the motion of physical objects. Velocity is a vector (geometry), vector Physical q ...
, direction and
centre of mass
In physics, the center of mass of a distribution of mass in space (sometimes referred to as the barycenter or balance point) is the unique point at any given time where the weighted relative position of the distributed mass sums to zero. For a ...
. Boscovich also (correctly) suggests that the continuity of
force
In physics, a force is an influence that can cause an Physical object, object to change its velocity unless counterbalanced by other forces. In mechanics, force makes ideas like 'pushing' or 'pulling' mathematically precise. Because the Magnitu ...
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 is more metaphysical, placing it in harmony with
Leibniz
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (or Leibnitz; – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat who is credited, alongside Sir Isaac Newton, with the creation of calculus in addition to many ...
's metaphysics.
Knowing with complete accuracy both the location and velocity of a particle violates the
uncertainty principle
The uncertainty principle, also known as Heisenberg's indeterminacy principle, is a fundamental concept in quantum mechanics. It states that there is a limit to the precision with which certain pairs of physical properties, such as position a ...
of modern
quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics is the fundamental physical Scientific theory, theory that describes the behavior of matter and of light; its unusual characteristics typically occur at and below the scale of atoms. Reprinted, Addison-Wesley, 1989, It is ...
, so this is no longer considered physically possible.
Further works
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
Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
to
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
, 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, 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
[Ivica Martinović (2000) "Ruđer Bošković's Expert Analyses in Hydraulic Engineering:An Unexamined Dimension of Bošković's Work" ''Jesuits among the Croats'' Pozaić, Valentin (ed). – Zagreb : Institute of philosophy and theology SJ and Croatian historical, 2000. 65–87.] has shown the extent to which Bošković applied himself to such works, and lists 13 major works:
* assessment of damage to the timber jetties in the Fiumicino, the navigable branch of the River Tiber (1751);
* the Ozzeri project, spurred by a bitter controversy on the floods in the border area between Lucca and Tuscany (1756);
* plan for the drainage of the Pontine Marshes, including the evaluation of an earlier project by Manfredi and Bertaglia (1764);
* analysis of the causes of damage to the port of Rimini, accompanied by reparation measures (1764);
* assessment of the levees along the River Po (1764);
* scientific letter on the principles of hydrodynamics in Lecchi's Idrostatica (1765);
* report on the floods in the Perugia area (1766);
* official report on the damage to the port of Savona, the underlying causes and the possibilities of repair (1771);
* expert opinion referring to the River Tidone in the Piacenza area (1771);
* proposal for the renovation of the fountains in Perugia (1772);
* expert opinion on the mouth of the River Adige as compared with the proposals by Antonio Lorgna and Simun Stratik for the improvement of the river bed (1773);
* instructions for the establishment of a team responsible for the drainage of the Pontine Marshes (1774);
* comments on Ximenes's project for the Nuovo Ozzeri drainage channel in Lucca (1781).
Martinovic's paper
includes an extensive annotated bibliography on such works.
Religious views
Bošković 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 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
Marian devotions are external pious practices directed to the person of Mary, mother of Jesus, by members of certain Christian traditions. They are performed in Catholicism, High Church Lutheranism, Anglo-Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Orie ...
, he wrote
hexameter
Hexameter is a metrical line of verses consisting of six feet (a "foot" here is the pulse, or major accent, of words in an English line of poetry; in Greek as well as in Latin a "foot" is not an accent, but describes various combinations of s ...
verses on the
Virgin Mary
Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
.
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.
Legacy
In 1873, Nietzsche wrote 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,
Werner Heisenberg
Werner Karl Heisenberg (; ; 5 December 1901 – 1 February 1976) was a German theoretical physicist, one of the main pioneers of the theory of quantum mechanics and a principal scientist in the German nuclear program during World War II.
He pub ...
nicknamed Boscovich ''the Croatian Leibniz''. In 1935, a lunar crater – the
Boscovich crater – was named after him for his contributions to astronomy. The largest Croatian institute of natural sciences and technology, based in
Zagreb
Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
, is called "
Ruđer Bošković Institute" since 1950. The oldest astronomical society in the Balkans based in
Serbia
, image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg
, national_motto =
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg
, national_anthem = ()
, image_map =
, map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
's capital
Belgrade
Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
is called
Astronomical Society Ruđer Bošković
Astronomical Society Ruđer Bošković () is an astronomical society in Belgrade, Serbia. Founded in 1934 by a group of students, it is the oldest one in the Balkans. Initially having only several members, today it gathers more than 700 astrono ...
since 1953.
In 1987, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Boscovich death, the Yugoslav state Post based in
Belgrade
Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
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
Trebinje ( sr-Cyrl, Требиње, ) is a city and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the southernmost city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and is situated on the banks of the Trebišnjica river in the region of East Her ...
wanted to do the same for their prospective airport.
Nationality
The
modern concept of nationality, based on
ethnic
An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...
concepts such as language, culture, religion, custom, etc., 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
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
South Slav
South Slavs are Slavic people who speak South Slavic languages and inhabit a contiguous region of Southeast Europe comprising the eastern Alps and the Balkan Peninsula. Geographically separated from the West Slavs and East Slavs by Austria, Hu ...
ic enlighteners, that was one of the major problems in 20th century
Yugoslavia
, common_name = Yugoslavia
, life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation
, p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia
, flag_p ...
.
A number of sources state that he referred to his Croatian identity.
[ Bošković's published letters and correspondence can be found in the Work of Yugoslav Academy of Arts and Sciences, number 185, year 1911 (of special interest are pages 345 and 377).] In writings to his sister Anica (Anna), he told her he had not forgotten the
Croatian language
Croatian (; ) is the standard language, standardised Variety (linguistics)#Standard varieties, variety of the Serbo-Croatian pluricentric language mainly used by Croats. It is the national official language and literary standard of Croatia, o ...
.
In a letter to his brother from 1757, he describes the encounter with Croatian soldiers in
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
and remarks at the end of the letter: "" ("Long life to
Hadik and to our Croats!").
While living in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
and attending to 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 is described as an Italian scientist. He used the Italian language in private, including in correspondence with his brother Baro,
and
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...
wrote to Boscovich in Italian "as a sign of respect".
The
Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (; , SANU) is a national academy and the most prominent academic institution in Serbia, founded in 1841 as Society of Serbian Letters (, DSS).
The Academy's membership has included Nobel Prize, Nobel la ...
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
Stolac ( sr-Cyrl, Столац) is an ancient city located in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in the region of Herzegovina. Stolac is one of the oldest cit ...
. A number of sources claim that Boscovich is a Serbian scientist or state that he is of Serbian paternal origin.
Boscovich himself was proud of his
Dalmatia
Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...
n identity. When
d'Alembert
Jean-Baptiste le Rond d'Alembert ( ; ; 16 November 1717 – 29 October 1783) was a French mathematician, mechanics, mechanician, physicist, philosopher, and music theorist. Until 1759 he was, together with Denis Diderot, a co-editor of the ''E ...
in his ''Opuscule mathématiques…'' called him "an Italian mathematician",
he shot back that he was "a Dalmatian from Dubrovnik, and not an Italian".
[Harris, Robin. ''Dubrovnik, A History''. London:Saqi Books, 2003. , p. 618] 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".
Works
Boscovich published eight scientific dissertations prior to his 1744 ordination as a priest and appointment as a professor and another 14 afterwards. The following is a partial list of his publications:
* ''De maculis solaribus'' (1736) (On Sunspots)
* ''De maculis solaribus exercitatio astronomica'' (1736) (An astronomical exercise on sunspots)
* ''De Mercurii novissimo infra Solem transitu'' (1737) (On the most recent transit of Mercury across the Sun)
* ''Trigonometriae sphaericae constructio'' (1737) (The construction of trigonometric spheres)
* ''De aurora boreali'' (1738) (On the Aurora Borealis)
* ''De novo telescopii usu ad objecta coelestia determinanda'' (1739) (On the new use of the telescope for determining celestial objects)
* ''De veterum argumentis pro telluris sphaericitate'' (1739) (On the arguments of the ancients for the sphericity of the earth)
* ''Dissertatio de telluris figura'' (1739) (A dissertation on the shape of the earth)
* ''De Circulis osculatoribus, Dissertatio'' (1740) (A dissertation on intersections of circles)
* ''De motu corporum projectorum in spatio non-resistente'' (1741) (On the motion of unresisting projected bodies in space)
* ''De inaequalitate gravitatis in diversis terrae locis'' (1741) (On the inequality of gravity in diverse places on earth)
* ''De natura et usu infinitorum et infinite parvorum'' (1741) (On the nature and use of infinites and infinitessimals)
* ''De annusi fixarum aberrationibus'' (1742) (On the annual aberration fixed stars)
* ''De observationibus astronomicis et quo pertingat earundem certitudo'' (1742) (On astronomical observations and the certitude which pertains to them)
* ''Disquisitio in universam astronomiam'' (1742) (A disquisition on universal astronomy)
* ''Parere di tre Matematici sopra i danni che si sono trovati nella Cupola di S. Pietro'' (1742) (On the opinion of three mathematicians concerning the damage to the dome of St Peter's)
* ''De motu corporis attracti in centrum immobile viribus decrescentibus in ratione distantiarum reciproca duplicata in spatiis non-resistentibus'' (1743) (On the motion of attracted body at an immobile centre by forces decreasing by the duplicate reciprocal proportion in non-resisting spaces)
* ''Riflessioni de' Padri Tommaso Le Seur, Francesco Jacquier de el' Ordine de' Minimi, e Ruggiero Giuseppe Boscovich della Compagnia di Gesù Sopra alcune difficoltà spettanti i danni, e Risarcimenti della Cupola Di S. Pietro'' (1743) (Reflections of Fathers Tommaso Le Seur, Francis Jacquier of the Order of Minimi, and Ruggiero Giuseppe Boscovich of the Society of Jesus on problems due to damage, and repair of, the dome of St. Peter's
Link to full text* ''Nova methodus adhibendi phasium observationes in eclipsibus lunaribus ad exercendam geometriam et promovendam astronomiam'' (1744) (A new method for using observations of phases in lunar eclipses for cultivating geometry and advancing astronomy)
''De cyloide et logistica''(1745) (On the cycloid and the logistic curve)
''De viribus vivis''(1745) (On living forces)
* ''Trigonometria sphaerica'' (1745) (Spherical trigonometry)
* ''De cometis'' (1746) (On comets)
* ''Dissertatio de maris aestu'' (1747) (A dissertation on the tides of the ocean)
* ''Dissertatio de lumine, 1–2'' (1748/1749) (A dissertation on light)
* ''De determinanda orbita planetae ope catoptricae ex datis vi celeritate & directione motus in dato puncto'' (1749) (On determining the orbits of a planet by the aid of catoptrics/reflections from given force speed and direction of motion in a given point)
* ''Sopra il Turbine che la notte tra gli XI e XII giugno del MDCCXLIX danneggio una gran parte di Roma'' (1749; Latin translation 1766) (Upon the whirlwind that on the night between 11 and 12 June 1749 damaged a large part of Rome)
* ''De centrogravitatis'' (1751) (On the centre of gravity)
* ''Elementorum matheseos ad usum studiosae juventutis'' (1752) (The elements of mathematics for the use of young students)
* ''De lunae atmosphaera'' (1753) (On the atmosphere of the moon)
* ''De continuitatis lege et eius consectariis pertinentibus ad prima materiae elementa eorumque vires dissertatio'' (1754) (A dissertation on the law of continuity and its consequences pertaining to the first elements of matter and of its powers)
* ''Elementorium universae matheseos, 1–3'' (1757) (Elements of general mathematics)
* ''De lege virium in natura existentium'' (1755) (On the law of powers in the nature of existing things)
* ''De lentibus et telescopiis dioptricis disertatio'' (1755) (Of dioptric lenses and telescopes)
* ''De inaequalitatibus quas Saturnus et Jupiter sibi mutuo videntur inducere praesertim circa tempus conjunctionis'' (1756) (On the inequalities which Saturn and Jupiter seem to induce between themselves particularly around times of conjunction)
* ''Theoria philosophiae naturalis'' (1758) (A Theory of Natural Philosophy
link to full text* ''De Solis ac Lunae defectibus'' (1760) (On the sun, moon and eclipses)
* ''Scrittura sulli danni osservati nell' edificio della Biblioteca Cesarea di Vienna, e loro riparazione'' (1763) (Writing on the damage observed in the building of the Library of Caesarea Vienna, and their repair)
* ''Memorie sopra il Porti di Rimini'' (1765) (A memoir on the Ports of Rimini)
* ''Sentimento sulla solidità della nuova Guglia del Duomo di Milano'' (1765) (Sentiments concerning the soundness of the new Spire of the Duomo of Milan)
* ''dissertationes quinque ad dioptricam pertinentes'' (1767) (Five dissertations pertaining to dioptrics)
* ''Voyage astronomique et geographique'' (1770) (An astronomic and geographic voyage)
* ''Memorie sulli cannocchiali diottrici'' (1771) (A memoir on dioptric telescopes)
* (Journal of a voyage from Constantinople to Poland)
* ''Sullo sbocco dell'Adige in Mare'' (1779) (On the mouth of the River Adige)
* ''Riflessioni sulla relazione del Sig. Abate Ximenes appartenente al Progetto di un nuovo Ozzeri nello Stato Lucchese'' (1782) (comments on the report of Signor Abbot Ximenes concerning the project for the Nuovo Ozzeri drainage channel in Lucca)
* (Journal of a voyage from Constantinople to Poland of Abbot Ruggiero Giuseppe Boscovich, together with his report of the ruins of Troy)
* ''Opera pertinentia ad opticam et astronomiam, 1–5'' (1785) (Works pertaining to optics and astronomy)
* ''Sui danni del Porto di Savona, loro cagioni e rimedi'' (1771) (On the damage to the port of Savona, it causes and possible repairs)
* ''Lettere a Giovan Stefano Conti'' (1780) (Letter to Giovan Stefano Conti)
See also
*
List of Catholic clergy scientists
*
Lancelot Law Whyte
*
Pietro De Martino
*
Boscovich's cardoid
*
Le Sage's theory of gravitation
*
Least absolute deviations
Least absolute deviations (LAD), also known as least absolute errors (LAE), least absolute residuals (LAR), or least absolute values (LAV), is a statistical optimality criterion and a statistical optimization technique based on minimizing the su ...
*
Quantile regression
*
Will to power
The will to power () is a concept in the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. The will to power describes what Nietzsche may have believed to be the main driving force in humans. However, the concept was never systematically defined in Nietzsche's ...
References
*
Further reading
* Boscovich, Ruggero Giuseppe. ''A Theory of Natural Philosophy. Translated by J. M. Child''. English ed. Cambridge, Mass.,: M. I. T. Press, 1966.
* Brush, Stephen G. ''The Kind of Motion We Call Heat: A History of the Kinetic Theory of Gases in the 19th Century''. Vol. 6 Studies in Statistical Mechanics. New York: North-Holland Pub. Co., 1976.
* Brush, Stephen G. ''Statistical Physics and the Atomic Theory of Matter: From Boyle and Newton to Landau and Onsager'' Princeton Series in Physics. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1983.
* Bursill-Hall, Piers, ed. ''R.J. Boscovich; Vita E Attivita Scientifica; His Life and Scientific Work.'' Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, 1993.
* Dadić, Žarko. ''Ruđer Bošković'' (Parallel text in Croatian and English). Zagreb: Školska Knjiga, 1987
* Dimitric, Radoslav. ''Ruđer Bošković'' (Serbian, with English summary, Bošković works in original, and translations into English and Serbian). Pittsburgh: Helios Publishing Company, 2006,
* Feingold, Mordechai. "A Jesuit among Protestants: Boscovich in England c. 1745 – 1820." In R.J. Boscovich; ''Vita E Attivita Scientifica; His Life and Scientific Work'', ed. Piers Bursill-Hall, 511–526. Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, 1993.
* Franolić, Branko. ''Bošković in Britain'', Journal of Croatian Studies Vol. 43, 2002 Croatian Academy of America, New York US ISSN 0075-4218
* Hrvatski biografski leksikon
he Croatian Biographical Lexicon Zagreb 1989. Vol 2, pp 194–199.
* Justin, Rodriguez. "Scientific Revolution Atomic Projects." Stevens Journal of Oral Traditions, no. 1 (200?): xlv–xc.
* Kargon, Robert. "William Rowan Hamilton, Michael Faraday, and the Revival of Boscovichean Atomism." American Journal of Physics 32, no. 10 (1964): 792–795.
* Kargon, Robert. "William Rowan Hamilton and Boscovichean Atomism." Journal of the History of Ideas 26, no. 1 (1965): 137–140.
* Katritsky, Linde. "Coleridge's Links with Leading Men of Science." Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London 49, no. 2 (1995): 261–276.
* Lukan, Peter. ''Roger Boscovich and the Quantum Mechanical Combination of Dynamic and Statical Laws.'' Almagest. International Journal for the History of Science 6, 1 (2015): 64–79.
* Morais Jr, Luis Carlos de. ''Alchimia seu Archimagisterium Solis in V Libri''. Rio de Janeiro: Quartica Premium, 2013.
* Petković, Tomisclav. ''R. J. Boscovich's Achievement in Natural Philosophy in Relation to the Development of Modern Particle Physics.'' Almagest. International Journal for the History of Science 6, 1 (2015): 80–103.
* Petrović, Aleksandar. ''The Presence of Boscovich's'' Theoria Philosophiae Naturalis ''and the Absence of its Translations.'' Almagest. International Journal for the History of Science 6, 1 (2015): 8–21.
* Priestley, Joseph, and Robert E. Schofield. ''A Scientific Autobiography of Joseph Priestley, 1733–1804''; Selected Scientific Correspondence. Cambridge, : M.I.T. Press, 1966.
* Proverbio, Edoardo. ''Catalogo delle opere a stampa di Ruggiero Giuseppe Boscovich''. Roma: Accademia Nazionale Delle Scienze Detta Dei XL. 2007.
* Savkovic, Nada. ''Occasional Poetry by Roger Boscovich''. Almagest. International Journal for the History of Science 6, 1 (2015): 32–47.
* Scott, Wilson L. "The Significance Of "Hard Bodies" In the History of Scientific Thought." Isis 50, no. 3 (1959): 199–210.
*
* Stavinschi, Magda.''Boscovich on the Romanian Territories.'' Almagest. International Journal for the History of Science 6, 1 (2015): 22–31.
* Uršič, Marko. ''Boscovich's Distinction between the Potential and the Actual Space from the Standpoint of Modern Search for the Union of Mind and Nature.'' Almagest. International Journal for the History of Science 6, 1 (2015): 48–63.
* Whyte, Lancelot Law, ed. ''Roger Joseph Boscovich, S.J., F.R.S., 1711–1787: Studies of His Life and Work on the 250th Anniversary of His Birth.'' London, : G. Allen & Unwin, 1961.
* Williams, L. Pearce. ''Michael Faraday, a Biography.'' New York, Basic Books, 1965.
* Williams, L. Pearce. "Boscovich, Mako, Davy and Faraday." In R.J. Boscovich; Vita E Attivita Scientifica; His Life and Scientific Work, ed. Piers Bursill-Hall, 587–600. Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, 1993.
External links
*
Ruggiero Giuseppe Boscovich, by University of St. AndrewsOnline guide to the Ruggiero Giuseppe Boscovich Papers, 1711–1787 The Bancroft Library
Latin as a literary language among the Croats by Branko Franolić – contains information on Ruđer BoškovićAll Croatian banknotes with Boscovich*
ttp://www.stampsbook.org/File-Croatia-stamp451kroatia.html Stamp of Joseph Boscovich*
ttp://www.dubrovnik-online.net/english/famous_citizens.php About Ruđer Bošković* Boscovich's (1748
''Dissertationis de lumine''– digital facsimile from the
Linda Hall Library
The Linda Hall Library is a privately endowed American library of science, engineering and technology located in Kansas City, Missouri, on the grounds of a urban arboretum. It claims to be the "largest independently funded public library of sc ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boscovich, Roger Joseph
1711 births
1787 deaths
People from Dubrovnik
Ragusan Jesuits
Croatian people of Italian descent
Croatian Roman Catholic theologians
Croatian physicists
Croatian philosophers
Croatian male poets
18th-century Croatian poets
Italian people of Croatian descent
18th-century Italian astronomers
18th-century Italian philosophers
18th-century Italian Jesuits
18th-century Italian Roman Catholic theologians
18th-century Italian mathematicians
18th-century Italian physicists
18th-century Italian poets
18th-century Italian male writers
Italian male poets
Fellows of the Royal Society
Academic staff of the University of Pavia
Jesuit scientists
18th-century Croatian Jesuits
Ragusan diplomats