celebrated Mathematician Bofcovich. J$ 



pope Benedict XIV. to meafure a degree of the meridian ia 

 the territories of the church ; an undertaking- which he ac- 

 complished in a fatisfactory manner, in conjunction with 

 father Maire of the fame order, and of which he gave an 

 account in a work published at Rome in 1755 under the title 

 of De Litcraria Expedit'ione per Pontijiciam DitiQ7ie?n, Sec 

 This work was afterwards tranflated into French, and pub-? 

 limed at Paris, with the title of Voyage AjlronG?)iique ct Gto- 

 grapbuiue dans I'.Etat de i' Eg life, &c. 



The raeafurittg of a degree of the- meridian in Auflria and 

 Hungary by E. Lknganig, in Piedmont by F; Beccaria, and 

 in America by Mafon and Dixon, were undertaken on the 

 fugceftion of Bofcovich, and by means of the influence which. 

 he* bad in different courts on account of the great reputation, 

 he had acquired in the mathematics : on the fame account 

 he was chofen by the Royal Society of London to obferve the 

 fecond tranfit of Venus in California; but the diiiblutlon of 

 his order, which happened about that time, prevented his 

 acceptance of this appointment. 



In the vcar 1759 he publiflicd at Vienna his Vhihfophi^c 

 ncturalis Tbeoria, and in 1763 he was invited to be profeilbr 

 of the mathematics at Pa via, where he taught for fit years. 

 He afterwards removed to Milan, on an invitation from the 

 imperial niinifter.count Firmian, to be profeilbr of auronomy 

 and optics; and while in this fituation he founded the ob- 

 fervatory of the jefuits in that city, which gave rife to the 

 impei ial obfervatory, and that now called the Cifalpine ob- 

 fervatory of Brera. 



In the year 1773, on the deilruction of the order of the 

 jefuits, Bofcovich was invited to France by his friends in 

 that country, among whom were De la Horde, Durfort, the 

 ministers Bovnes and Vergennes, and madamc de Sivrac. 

 On this ocearion he was naturalifed, and obtained the ap- 

 poinment of direcieur d'optique et de la marine, with an an- 

 nual (alary of 8000 livres. 



Bofcovich was a poet of no inconsiderable merit ; for the 

 dry and abllrufe ftudy of the mathematics damped nei theft 

 toe fire of his genius nor deftroyed thofe powers of the imau 

 gination by wliich theft born poets are peculiarly diflin- 

 guilhed. His Latin poem on eclipfes is highly worthy of 

 notice, both on account of its internal poetical merit, and 

 of the ability and elearnefs with which the author gives pre- 

 cepts for the moft difficult calculations, and explains the moll 

 complex parts of the theorv of altronomy. It has been tranf- 

 lated into French by Barrucl. The efteem in winch Bofco- 

 vich was held, occalioned his being involved alfo in political 



