Milutin Milankovic, one of Serbia’s most famous scientists, ranked by NASA among the 15 greatest minds of all time to study Earth, has died on this day in Belgrade.
Milankovic was the first Serbian doctor of technical sciences, and in his fields of interest were mathematics, astronomy, climatology and geophysics.
He was a correspondent member of the Serbian Royal Academy, and in 1923 proposed the reform of the Julian calendar, which was accepted by the Orthodox Church.
Milankovic made the most accurate calendar according to which the tropical year lasts 365 days, five hours, 48 minutes and 48 seconds, and was supported by climatologist Vladimir Petrovich Kepen and geophysicist Alfred Vegener.
In his honor, a crater on the dark side of the moon was given his name, which was formally adopted at the International Astronomical Union’s congress in 1970 in Brighton. In 1973, the same organization in Sydney made the decision to name one Mars crater by this Serbian giant.
An asteroid discovered by Serbian astronomers in 1936 originally named “1936 GA” was renamed in 1979 to “1605 Milankovic”.
In 1993, the European Geophysical Society established the Milutin Milankovic Medal, which is awarded to scientists for outstanding merit in long-term climate study and modeling. Since 2003, this geoscience medal has been awarded by the EU.
American scientists John Imbri and Katherine Palmer Imbri have published a book called “Ice Age: A Solution to the Secret,” in which they acknowledged the accuracy of Milutin’s theory.
Many gatherings are named after this giant, and in 1993, the Milutin Milankovic Medal, awarded by the European Geophysical Society, was established. In 2004, his character adorned the postage stamps of the former Serbia-Montenegro, and seven years later a banknote of 2,000 Serbian dinars.
The street in New Belgrade is called Milutin Milankovic Boulevard.
“Just as lightning in the dark night illuminates the traveler with the whole horizon before him, so lightning in the brain of a brilliant man opens up new vistas in science and reveals new areas of science” and “Our atmosphere, no doubt about it, is feminine in nature, it flickers under with a raging kiss of the sun, he often dresses and frowns, and whenever he sings, rages and zips, ”are some of his thoughts.
This most cited Serbian scientist was creating in a small room in Captain Misa’s building at Belgrade University using only pen, paper, sunroof and logarithmic plates.
The last text he wrote represents an essay on the folk song “Death of Kraljevic Marko”, which shows its versatility.
After Milutin’s death, some scientists disputed his astronomical theory, but 10 years later they began to revisit it. The debate ended in 1972 and the correctness of Milankovic’s cycles was proven.
Milankovic introduced mathematical modeling into construction, and his patent is “A Contribution to the Theory of Reinforced Concrete Brackets.”
Milutin Milankovic was born into a wealthy family of farmers on May 28, 1879 in the village of Dalj, located on the Danube, and besides his twin sister Milena, he had three other brothers and two sisters.
Because he was sensitive, he did not go to school, but was taught by governesses and private teachers. At the urging of the professor of mathematics, he enrolled in civil engineering studies in Vienna, which he completed six years later with the highest marks.
In 1910, Milankovic moved to the Kingdom of Serbia and became its citizen.
He married Hristina Topuzovic from Sabac, but when the First World War began, he, as a citizen of the Kingdom of Serbia, was arrested and transferred to the Nezider camp in eastern Austria, from where he was released with the help of his Viennese professor Emanuel Chuber, but was imprisoned in Budapest, to which he came after six months spent in the camp.
In 1916, Milankovic published a paper entitled “Testing the Climate of the Planet Mars,” proving that the Red Planet has an extreme climate that makes it impossible for civilized life. In addition to this planet, he studied the climatic conditions on Mercury and Venus.
He established astronomical climate theory as a general mathematical theory of sunbathing. In 1918 he patented the “Concrete Wall” in Hungary.
Milankovic and his family returned to Belgrade in 1919. He became a full professor of celestial mechanics at the University, in 1925 he was named a full member of the Serbian Royal Academy, in 1927 he was Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy, while in 1948 he was elected President of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and remained in that position until 1958.
Milankovic began writing the popular science novel “Throughout the World and Centuries” in the form of letters to an unknown lady. The piece deals with climatology, astronomy and science in general. In it, he explained his astronomical theory of climate.
He made a mathematical model of the Earth, which he considered to be a solid, fluid and resilient body. He derived the equations known as the Milankovic theorem, and in 1932 published the paper “Numerical Calculation of the Secular Path of the Earth’s Poles of Rotation.”
King Alexander The First Karadjordjevic awarded Milankovic with the Order of Saint Sava of the Third Order, and King Peter the Second with the Yugoslav Crown of the Third Order.
In 1939, Milankovic began a life-long work combining all the studies he wrote in books and notebooks – The Canon of the Sunshine of the Earth and its Application to the Ice Age Problem, published in 1941 by the Serbian Royal Academy.
He refused to sign the Appeal to the Serbian people and support the German occupation of the country.
Milutin Milankovic suffered a stroke in 1958 and died at the age of 80 in Belgrade, where he was buried. Eight years later, his remains were moved to his native Dalj and buried in the family grave at the Orthodox cemetery on the Danube bank, as he wished.
TST
