Approaching the 300th anniversary of the birth of Josip Ruđer Bosković

Abstract

On the occasion of 300th anniversary of the birth of Josip Ruđer Bošković, a Jesuit, versatile scientist, philosopher, diplomat and poet – originally from Dubrovnik, who worked in the 18th century – this paper presents a contribution of his importance. This is a review of one of his first papers which has recently been translated from Latin into Croatian and which explains the appearance of northern lights. Bošković was the first Croatian scientist who dealt with the explanation of this atmospheric phenomenon, and some of his conclusions are close to modern ideas. This paper also presents a recently discovered  memorial poem which his younger fellow brother p. Petar Perica wrote on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Bošković’s birth and which was hitherto unknown.