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Ruđer Bošković – the Universal Mind of his Age and the Creator of a “New World”

Ruđer Josip Bošković (Roger Joseph Boskovich, Ruggiero Giuseppe Boscovich, Rodericus Iosephus Boscovicus ; Dubrovnik, 1711 – Milano, 1787) was one of the most brilliant minds of his age: a philosopher, physicist, mathematician, polymath, poet, and diplomat. He created his impressive scientific works over the course of half a century. He made a significant contribution to many fields of science: natural philosophy (physics), mathematics, astronomy, geodesy, geophysics, hydraulic engineering, structural analysis, archaeology, and construction of instruments. He is most famous for his natural philosophy, i.e. his theory of attractive-repulsive forces and the structure of matter on a microcosmic level. He set down the ideal of explaining all natural phenomena based on a single law. Using his curve of forces, Bošković could explain any phenomenon in the physical world. His “model of the atom” as a centre of forces rather than a particle of matter where forces are located had an important role in the history of atomic theory, and was acknowledged by the greatest 20th century scientists such as Niels Bohr and Henry V. Gill.He was particularly highly regarded in London. During his stay in England, Bošković became the first Jesuit who had the honour of meeting members of the royal family. He talked to them about astronomy and, thanks to the assistance of court circles, also had the opportunity to meet American scientist and politician Benjamin Franklin. He was accepted into distinguished literary circles as an accomplished poet, and also became a Fellow of the Royal Society, to which he dedicated his work in verse, De Solis ac Lunae defectibus (London, 1760). He also pointed to the importance of examining the transit of Venus across the Sun, and the Royal Society appointed him as its representative in observing this transit in Constantinople in June 1761. During this journey, Bošković conducted a valuable archaeological examination. He was interested in archaeological problems, and his most important contribution to archaeology is certainly his examination of the ruins of ancient Troy. On his way to Constantinople in 1761, he stopped at the coast of Asia Minor, opposite the island of Tenedos where, according to tradition, the ruins of Troy were located. Bošković based his research on a good knowledge of classical literature, especially the Roman poet Virgil, who wrote that the ruins of Troy are located opposite the island of Tenedos. As with Bošković’s other scholarly work, his study of the ruins of Troy is marked by an exact approach and the application of mathematical methods, combining archaeological research with mathematical and astronomical problems. When examining the ruins of Troy, he first sought mathematical and astronomical elements that could be linked with archaeological assumptions. Carefully analysing and measuring the ruins of the city, Bošković came to the conclusion that the claim that the Troy destroyed by the Greeks in the Trojan War lies on the shores of Asia Minor must be false. He concluded that Troy must have been located farther inland, where there was nothing but wasteland in his time. He believed that the ruins then believed to be ancient Troy actually belong to a city founded by Alexander the Great and later completed by the Romans. Bošković considered the problem of Troy to be equal to the three-body problem in celestial mechanics and wrote a separate study entitled Report on the Ruins of Troy (Relazione delle rovine di Troja, esistente in faccia al Tenedo), which appeared in printed form as an addendum to the Italian edition of his Journal of a Voyage from Constantinople to Poland (Bassano, 1784). Previous editions of Bošković’s Journal in French (1772) and German (1779) do not contain the Report. Bošković’s Report was the most extensive report on the ruins of Troy printed to date. His observations were confirmed by the famous German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann around a century later, in 1874.

Roger Joseph Boscovich, : natural philosophy (physics), mathematics, astronomy, geodesy, geophysics, hydraulic engineering, structural analysis, archaeology, construction of instruments, polymath, poet, diplomat

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