Yugoslavia: The 200th Anniversary of the Birth of Ruđer Bošković

Ruđer Bošković, (18 May 1711 – 13 February 1787) was a Serbian/Italian physicist, astronomer, mathematician, philosopher, diplomat, poet, theologian, Jesuit priest, and a polymath from the city of Dubrovnik in the Republic of Ragusa (modern-day Croatia), who studied and lived in Italy and France where he also published many of his works.

He produced a precursor of atomic theory and made many contributions to astronomy, including the first geometric procedure for determining the equator of a rotating planet from three observations of a surface feature and for computing the orbit of a planet from three observations of its position. In 1753 he also discovered the absence of atmosphere on the Moon.

Stamp is issued on 13.02.1987.