Boscovich was one of the most advanced researchers and theorists of his time, who today separated into separate specialties and worked in a variety of interests that could not be considered ordinary even for the 18th century.
(1711-1787) Croatian scholar and thinker. He worked in the fields of physics, astronomy, geodesy, mathematics, and philosophy and theorized the atomic view of atoms as dynamic points of power. He was born on May 18, 1711, in Ragusa, Croatia, known as Dubrovnik. His father was a merchant and his mother was the daughter of an Italian merchant. He started his education at the Jesuit College in 1725 and completed it at the Collegium Romanum in Rome. In 1739, he examined the errors of the methods used until that time for the measurement of the length of a meridian arc and presented his own method. The following year he became professor of philosophy and mathematics at the Collegium Romanum. He calculated the length of the arc of the two-degree meridian between Rome and Rimini as a result of the measurements he carried out jointly with C Maire and published these measurements as a report at the end of 1755. In the same period, he was interested in the solution of various architectural problems and construction designs as well as archeology research. During these studies, he developed the basic subjects of architectural statics. He also prepared projects related to the control of rivers and port construction.
Roger Joseph Boscovich SJ (18 May 1711 – 13 February 1787) 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.
In 1758, his main work in atomic philosophy, Philosopbiae naturalist theoria ("The Theory of Natural Philosophy"), was published. He left Rome in 1759 for political reasons. He established contacts with scientific and literary circles in Paris and London, including Benjamin Franklin. As a diplomat and scientist, he had the opportunity to meet and cooperate with the leading scientists of his time in various European countries, especially in Italy, France, and England. Taking advantage of his election as a Fellow of the Royal Society during a trip to England in 1761, he received support from this institution to observe the transit of Venus that would take place in June of the same year. Although he went to Istanbul for this purpose, he was delayed for observation and had to spend seven months in this city due to a serious illness. Returning to Italy, he entered the University of Pavia as a professor in 1764. He pioneered the establishment of the Brera Observatory in Milan. In 1773, upon the Pope's decision to ban the Jesuit sect, he accepted the call of the King of France and went to Paris. He was the head of the optics department in the Navy for ten years. He developed various optical observation and measurement tools. He returned to Italy in 1783 and prepared Latin editions of his works. He died in Milan on February 13, 1787, as a respected internationally renowned scientist.
Boskovic was one of the most advanced researchers and theorists of his time, who today separated into separate specialties and worked in a variety of interests that could not be considered ordinary even for the 18th century. His astronomy studies on comets and the determination of the orbits of planets led him to be interested in optics as well. In addition to practical research that increased the sensitivity of optical devices and lenses, he also developed many measurement tools. The most important of these is the vari-angle prism (diaspora meter) used in the examination of achromaticity and a kind of plane detector. His interest in meteorology, geophysics, and geodesy, which studies the size and shape of the earth, also developed depending on astronomy. His most important work on this subject is the development of the method that allows the measurement of the length of the meridian degree. In the first half of the 18th century, an important debate was going on between the view that the earth was elongated from the poles and the Newtonian approach, which predicted a flattened shape. Measurements based on Boskovic's method confirmed the Newtonian theory. During these measurements, Boskovic also developed the first substantial theory of measurement errors.
One of Boskovic's most important contributions to scientific thought was the atomic theory, which adopted the principle of remote interaction, which can be said to have influenced the atomic models of the 19th century. Although the atomic theory has a history dating back to Leucippus in the 5th century BC, the views that provide the basis for modern atomic theories have gained importance and found scientific support starting from the 17th century. Almost all of the leading scientists of the 17th century, such as Galileo, Newton, Hooke, etc. Although adopting an atomist view, it can be said that the first philosophical approach that defines the atom with its properties beyond being a fundamental particle and makes use of Newton's concept of gravity belongs to Boskovic.
Adopting the principle of distant interaction of celestial bodies in Newtonian mechanics, Boskovic defines atoms as simple, indivisible, point forces that do not extend and can interact with each other from a distance. The properties of these point forces basically emerge as a result of their interaction with other point forces. By using the attraction and repulsion forces between atoms, Boskovic tried to explain all the physical phenomena known in his time, and with these efforts, he created a bridge between the atomist views of the 17th and 18th centuries.