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Marin Getaldic - Ghetaldus (1568-1626) born
in Dubrovnik, was the most outstanding Croatian scientist of his
time. He studied in Italy, England and Belgium. His best results
are mainly in physics, especially optics, and mathematics. Among
his numerous books let us mention Promotus Archimedus (Rome, 1603)
and De resolutione et compositione mathematica (Rome, 1630), in
which Getaldic appears as a pioneer of algebraization of geometry.
His contributions to geometry had been cited by Christian Huygens
and Edmond Halley. Getaldic is the constructor of the parabolic
mirror (diameter 2/3 m), kept today in the National Maritime Museum
in London. During his sojourn in Padova he met Galileo Galilei,
with whom he corresponded regularly. He was a good friend to the
French mathematician F. Viéte. The fact that the post of professor
of mathematics had been offered to him in Louvain in Belgium,
at that time one of the most famous university centers in Europe,
proves his high scientific reputation. A Venetian Paolo Scarpi
wrote about him: In mathematics he was like a demon, and in his
heart - like an angel. According to a letter of an Italian scientist
Buratini we know that the city of Dubrovnik possessed a telescope
before Newton's discovery. It is very probable that it had been
constructed by Getaldic.
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