Roger Joseph Boscovich
From Wiki @ Karl Jones dot com
Roger Joseph Boscovich (Croatian: Ruđer Josip Bošković, pronounced [rûd͡ʑer jǒsip bôʃkoʋit͡ɕ], Italian: Ruggiero Giuseppe Boscovich; see also names in other languages; 18 May 1711 – 13 February 1787) was a Ragusan physicist, astronomer, mathematician, philosopher, diplomat, poet, theologian, Jesuit priest, and polymath.
Biography
Boscovich was a native of Dubrovnik in the Republic of Ragusa (modern-day Croatia), who studied and lived in Italy and France where he also published many of his works.
He produced a precursor of atomic theory and made many contributions to astronomy, including the first geometric procedure for:
- Determining the equator of a rotating planet from three observations of a surface feature
- Computing the orbit of a planet from three observations of its position
In 1753 he also discovered the absence of atmosphere on the Moon.
See also
External links
- Roger Joseph Boscovich @ Wikipedia
