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GIANTS OF HUMAN CIVILIZATION 3

Dr sci. SIMO JELAČA

PTOLEMY (90-168 AD), Greek astronomer

The Greek Claudius Ptolemy was born in Alexandria, Egypt, where he worked. Otherwise, little is known about his life. In his development, he first decided on the interpretations of Hipparchus and Aristotle, according to which the Earth was at the center of the universe, and the planets and stars rotated around it in regular circular paths. Ptolemy's system was used after him for fourteen centuries, until Copernicus' discoveries in 1543. Copernicus' system of planetary motion was based on a geocentric model of the universe. According to this model, Ptolemy made mathematical calculations of the motion of all the planets and stars in the form of eighty epicyclic circles of different diameters. And since even Ptolemy did not know in his time that the planets move in elliptical paths, that is why his calculations are incorrect, but they were still the closest until the time of Copernicus. Ptolemy's work, the Great Collection of Astronomy or the Great Syntax, has been completely preserved.

In the domain of mathematics, Ptolemy offered the first calculations of longitude and latitude, which made it possible to show projections of spherical surfaces with maps drawn to scale. Even these first maps have a lot of inaccuracies, the equator is too far north and Asia too far east. However, Ptolemy's maps encouraged the navigator Christopher Columbus to head west, expecting to discover a shorter route to Asia, by which he accidentally discovered America.

Ptolemy also dealt with astrology, claiming that the stars affect man, as a kind of radiation. One of the most important legacies of Ptolemy is his final text Optics, in which he gave the first descriptions of optical principles. After establishing the principle of reflection, Ptolemy began to examine the refraction of light through water, based on empirical observations.

AL-KHWARIZMI (780-850), Uzbek mathematician, geographer and astronomer

Al-Khwarizmi was born in Khwarizm (now Khiva) in Uzbekistan. His full name is Abu Ja'far Mohammed ibn Musa Al-Khwarizmi. He worked in Baghdad and was the first to introduce Arabic numerals into mathematics. He is one of the most respected mathematicians, geographers and astronomers in the Arab world. He presented his calculation system in the section Calculation with Hindu complex numbers. After it was translated into Latin, it was accepted throughout the Western world, and even today it is considered a unique global language. Already at the age of twenty, in the year 800, he founded Al-Mamun (House of Wisdom) in Baghdad, where there is a library with translations of famous Greek philosophers and devices for astronomical observation. Al-Khwarizmi's work Calculus with Complex Numbers and Remainders is actually an introduction to the use of arithmetic, which was later called algebra. Al-Khwarizmi was the first to introduce quadratic equations into that work, although he expressed them only descriptively. He also introduced the concept of complex numbers (removing negative signs, eg:

24 k″ - 8 k = 16 k″ + 4 k + 60, which gives 8 k″ - 12 k = 60, i.e.

8 k″ - 60 = 12 k Thus, Al-Khwarizmi is considered the father of algebra and the name Algorismi (Algorithms) is derived from his name. Al-Khwarizmi is claimed to have been the first to even calculate sines and tangents.

In the domains of astronomy and geography, he extended the works of Ptolemy, applying lines of longitude and latitude, which he drew on maps, much more precisely than his predecessor.

UMAR IBN IBRAHIM AL-HAYAMI (1048-1131), Islamic mathematician

He is known in the West as Omar Khayyami, he is one of the most important Islamic poets, mathematicians and astronomers. He worked for 18 years at the Isfahan Observatory, 300 km south of Tehran. He measured the length of the solar year as 365.24219858156 days, which is absolutely accurate and the most accurate in history. He proposed a solar calendar with 8 leap years in a period of 33 years, which is more accurate than the Gregorian calendar. In 1079, he sent his proposals to the shah of the time, but unfortunately it remained beyond the scope of science.

RASTKO NEMANJIĆ–St. SAVA (1169-1236), founder of the Serbian state and church

Rastko Nemanjić was born in Mišići, near Novi Pazar, as the youngest son and prince of his father Stevan Nemanja, the great prefect, and his mother Ana (Anastasia). At an early age, he went to Mount Athos in 1192, where he became a monk in the monastery of Saint Panteleimon and was named Sava. His life and work were embedded in the spiritual development of the entire Serbian being, to which he entrusted the entire Serbian people. With his mind, he did many good deeds in order to stabilize and strengthen the Serbian state. He reconciled the brothers and acted as a true ruler to his brother King Stephen and his nephews. He understood that a unified and stable state is a great good of the Serbian people. In his time, monasteries became a means of religious life and spiritual creativity. During his lifetime, he became a legend about whom traditions have been passed down through the centuries. He acted as a saint and an educator. The works of Saint Sava enlighten the Serbian tradition, known as Svetosavlje. The spirit of Svetosavlje maintained the being of the Serbian people in the moments of its most difficult historical past.

During his lifetime, he stayed in the Holy Land twice, in 1229-1230 and 1234-1235, as part of his ecclesiastical diplomacy. He died on his way back from his second pilgrimage to Jerusalem, on Epiphany in 1236, in Trnovo, Bulgaria. During his lifetime, he very expertly maintained good diplomatic relations with the Vatican, for the sake of Serbia's national interests. He established the Autocephaly of the Serbian Orthodox Church in 1219 and included it in the framework of Eastern Christianity - the Orthodox Church. In the same year, he was appointed the first Serbian archbishop in the Žiča monastery. The relics of Saint Sava were transferred from Trnovo to the Mileševa monastery in 1237, and the Turks took them to Vračar in 1594 and burned them. This barbaric act, unprecedented in human history, strengthened the spiritual strength of the Serbian people even more. Svetosavlje managed to survive all the previous violence against the Serbs. Arsenije Čarnojević, proto Matija Nenadović, Njegoš, Milan Rakić, Jovan Dučić, Vasko Popa, Matija Bećković and countless other Serbian artists were guided by the Svetosavlje impulse.

Sava's Day, January 27, was announced by Miloš Obrenović in 1827, and in 1841 Mihajlo Obrenović announced the Law on the obligation of all Serbian schools to celebrate this day. Serving at the Holy Liturgy in Trnava, on Epiphany, Saint Sava said:

Hear me brothers, the last and the first,

By language and religion we are of the same blood.

We are brothers, sister is our unity,

Because we are children of Christ of one and the same God.

The word brotherhood is easy to point out,

But once lost, it is hard to regain.

Keep him as your eyes both,

LEONARDO FIBONACCI (1170-1250), Italian mathematician

Fibonacci was born in Pisa and is considered most responsible for the acceptance of Arabic numerals (see Al-Khwarizmi p. 8), first in Latin and then throughout the Western world. He published his book Book of Calculations in 1202, with which he demonstrated the efficiency of calculations with Arabic numerals.

MARCO POLO (1254-1324), Venetian travel writer

And although he does not belong to the class of scientists, he is mentioned here as the first to bring news of Asia to Europe and later greatly influenced great explorers, such as Christopher Columbus and others. Marco Polo was born in Venice, Italy, the son of a merchant who traveled to Mongolia and China. On his second journey, he took Mark with him in 1271 and stayed until 1295. On his return from Mongolia and China, he was captured in Genoa, where he was kept in prison for two years. During that time, he dictated his impressions from his travels in Asia to his prison colleague, who published them in 1298 as Description of the World. Many readers received this work as pure fantasy, while it served Christopher Columbus and John Cabot very usefully.

JOHANNES GUTENBERG (1400-1468), German inventor

Gutenberg was born in Mainz, Germany, and worked in Strasbourg, France for over 30 years. He is the inventor of the first printing press, movable type, in 1450. In the period 1450-1456, he printed numerous books, calendars, Papal mercy and the first Bible. And although Gutenberg's invention is not a scientific work, the discovery initially became one of the key revolutionaries for development in Europe and provided academic citizens with the opportunity to exchange scientific knowledge. By the end of the fifteenth century, tens of thousands of books had already been printed, which created an unlimited expansion of scientific ideas.

LEONARDO Da VINCI (1452-1519), Italian inventor, scientist and artist

Leonardo Da Vinci is considered the most brilliant mind in the history of human civilization. Unfortunately for him and all of us, he lived in a time when all progress was completely forbidden. Because of this, almost all of his works remained unpublished for centuries after his death. As an artist, he left us unsurpassed works of the Renaissance: The Last Supper (1495-1497) and the Mona Lisa (1503-1506). He dealt with astronomy, geography, paleontology, geology, botany, zoology, hydrodynamics, optics, aerodynamics and anatomy. In all these disciplines he was a genius, in a word, unsurpassed. As a painter, he left numerous paintings and sketches of the human body, with phenomenally accurate proportions. After centuries of superstition, he introduced a rational and systematic approach to the study of nature. He observed things in nature for a long time, made sketches and notes, repeated experiments several times to ensure accuracy before drawing conclusions. He left nothing to chance. Only then did he offer his conclusions for human use. He studied the flight of birds with great precision and subsequently designed numerous flying machines. That's how he designed the helicopter, five centuries before its actual creation. He also constructed the parachute in 1485, three hundred years before its creation. In doing so, he accurately calculated the size of the parachute and determined the type of material for its safe descent. He studied the working principles of levers and gears exceptionally well, on the basis of which he constructed the first bicycle and crane. In the fields of hydrodynamics, he constructed numerous water-powered machines, also several centuries before the industrial revolution. He even sketched a device for measuring humidity, and a diving suit with an air supply under water. While working for the Duke of Milan (1482-1499) he designed a missile launcher, a machine gun, the first tank and the first submarine. He designed numerous bridges and irrigation systems. However, he is primarily remembered as an unsurpassed painter and architect. It seems that a genius, like Leonardo Da Vinci, is truly born only once in a millennium.

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBO (1451-1506), Italian explorer

Christopher Columbus, the famous navigator, was remembered as the greatest explorer of his time. He discovered the New World, America in 1492. He was born in Genoa, Italy. Setting out from Europe across the Atlantic, he believed that by sailing west he would discover a closer route to Asia. On that occasion, he discovered a new continent, America.

AMERIGO VESPUCCI (1451-1512), Italian navigator

Vespucci, also an Italian navigator, was the first to use the name New World for America. On his first voyage, he joined Christopher Columbus in Spain in 1492, from where they sailed across the Atlantic. In 1499 he crossed the Atlantic again and explored the Amazon region of Brazil in more detail.

In 1507, a German cartographer recommended the name America for the New World in honor of Amerigo Vespucci.

VASCO de GAMA (1469-1525), Portuguese navigator

Vasco da Gama was the Portuguese explorer who first found a waterway to India. He set out on his journey in July 1497 and arrived in India in May 1498 and returned in 1502.

NICHOLAS COPERNICUS (1473-1543), Polish astronomer

The Polish astronomer Copernicus, as a priest, used the church to observe the stars from its bell tower. He studied at the University of Krakow, and from 1491 to 1503 at the University of Ferrara, in Italy, where he received his doctorate. His epoch-making work on the rotation of the celestial spheres was published while he was on his deathbed. The Catholic Church opposed the teachings of Copernicus and forbade their publication. As soon as it was published, the church banned it in 1543, which remained until 1835. Copernicus was the first to establish that the planets of the solar system rotate around the Sun, and not the Sun around the Earth. This overturned a concept that had been around since Aristotle. He came to this, in all likelihood, based on the teachings of Aristarchus. The Catholic Church also opposed the heliocentric model of planetary motion for nearly three centuries.

The Copernican sunset is with the Sun at the center of the planetary motion, and the Earth travels around the Sun for a year. He presented his position in 1510-1514 in the work Commentariolus. According to Copernicus' theory, the Earth also rotates on its axis, which takes 24 hours for one full revolution. According to this claim, the position of the stars in the sky also became clearer. At first Copernicus did not want to publish his work Commentariolus, but it circulated among his friends. He was afraid of contradicting the understanding of the Bible. Even when the church lifted the ban on the heliocentric model of the world in 1616, the ban remained until 1835, when it was accepted worldwide. After the publication of "The Revolution of the Heavenly Bodies" in 1543, Copernicus' theory was not accepted by many academics, until Johannes Kepler offered his theory of the rotation of the planets in elliptical paths, instead of circular 1609 years. Copernicus calculated the length of the solar year as 365.2425 days or 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes and 29 seconds, and the length of the tropical year as 365.2422 days or 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds, which corresponds to today's space measurements.

Some of the World greatest scientists

To be continued... 

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