Document Text Contents
Page 1
Croatia
land and people
Page 115
7 Education and science
In alignment with European standards, Croatia’s
higher education system has adopted the best
features of the Bologna Process, contributing to
the growing integration of science and scientists
in Europe. The modern Croatian education and
science system is based on a tradition founded
in 1396, when the first public university opened
in Zadar. The University of Zagreb, which is
today the largest, dates back to 1669. Among
Croatian scientists and inventors, many have
made particular contributions to international
knowledge, especially Ruđer Bošković (1711–87)
and Nikola Tesla (1856–1943). The former was a
Jesuit mathematician, astronomer, philosopher,
diplomat and poet, came to prominence by
producing an atomic theory and was one of
the most renowned physicists of his day. One
of the craters on the Moon is named after him.
The modern system of transmitting electrical
energy would have been unthinkable without
the inventor Nikola Tesla, who created the
first hydroelectric plant on the Niagara Falls,
and invented the electric motor which we find
today in almost all household appliances. Other
inventions which are now part of daily life, such
as the tie, the parachute, the solid-ink fountain
pen, the airship, the MP3 player and fingerprint
identification techniques, are numbered among
the products of Croatian creative minds. Scientific
excellence is best recognised through the Nobel
Prize, and two Croatian chemists, Lavoslav
Ružička (1939) and Vladimir Prelog (1975), have
been awarded it.
DiD you kNow?
The Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts
is the oldest in Southeast Europe (1866) and
has up to 160 full members (academicians).
Croatia
land and people
Page 115
7 Education and science
In alignment with European standards, Croatia’s
higher education system has adopted the best
features of the Bologna Process, contributing to
the growing integration of science and scientists
in Europe. The modern Croatian education and
science system is based on a tradition founded
in 1396, when the first public university opened
in Zadar. The University of Zagreb, which is
today the largest, dates back to 1669. Among
Croatian scientists and inventors, many have
made particular contributions to international
knowledge, especially Ruđer Bošković (1711–87)
and Nikola Tesla (1856–1943). The former was a
Jesuit mathematician, astronomer, philosopher,
diplomat and poet, came to prominence by
producing an atomic theory and was one of
the most renowned physicists of his day. One
of the craters on the Moon is named after him.
The modern system of transmitting electrical
energy would have been unthinkable without
the inventor Nikola Tesla, who created the
first hydroelectric plant on the Niagara Falls,
and invented the electric motor which we find
today in almost all household appliances. Other
inventions which are now part of daily life, such
as the tie, the parachute, the solid-ink fountain
pen, the airship, the MP3 player and fingerprint
identification techniques, are numbered among
the products of Croatian creative minds. Scientific
excellence is best recognised through the Nobel
Prize, and two Croatian chemists, Lavoslav
Ružička (1939) and Vladimir Prelog (1975), have
been awarded it.
DiD you kNow?
The Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts
is the oldest in Southeast Europe (1866) and
has up to 160 full members (academicians).
