18 | 05 | 2026

315th Anniversary of the Birth of Ruđer Bošković

Source: Pixabay

In the year in which we celebrate the 35th anniversary of SIPO, we are reminded of scientists whose works have marked science and technology.

Ruđer Bošković, one of the most important scientists in world’s, European and Croatian history, was born 315 years ago. His scientific work in the fields of physics, mathematics, astronomy and philosophy marked the development of science and left a strong mark that transcends the boundaries of time and space.

During his life, Bošković was prominent politician, an excellent negotiator, and also a poet. He wrote poems in Latin and Croatian as well, as he called it “ours" language.
In 1758 Bošković published his most important scientific work, Theory of Natural Philosophy (Theoria philosophiae naturalis), in which he presented his view on the basic structure of matter. It is recognized as a masterpiece that attempted to reconcile Newtonian mechanics with a more fundamental, unified understanding of matter and energy. 

His model, known as "Bošković points," anticipated modern concepts in atomic structure, molecular mechanics, and quantum physics. This scientific work greatly influenced 19th-century physicists, notably Michael Faraday, who utilized it to develop the concept of physical fields.

"It is little that we know, it is immense that we do not know"
-Ruđer Bošković-
 

We refer to publicly available external sources through which it is possible to access a digitized version of the original work: copy of Bošković's original work Theoria philosophiae naturalis in Latin can be viewed on the website of the National and University Library in Zagreb. The work is available in English translation on the Internet Archive website.

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