Serbian scientist Milutin Milanković made the most precise calendar. The craters both on the Moon and on Mars were named after him, but the recognition for his work he received only after death.
The most precise calendar in the world is the work of one great Serbian scientist. Even a crater on Mars and another on the Moon were named after him, while NASA put him among 15 most influential scientists credited for developing the study of Earth’s evolution. His name was Milutin Milanković, and he is best known for his “theory of the Ice Age”.
Thanks to his scientific work, today it is familiar to us that Earth’s climate is influenced by factors from space, predominantly the Sun, and it makes it possible for us to determine the future changes and the arrival of the next Ice Age.
Milutin Milanković always knew he would be a scientist. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geophysicist, climatologist, civil engineer…
He could count by the time he was five years old. At the age of 25 he was the first to have PhD in engineering sciences in Serbia. Today he’s the most quoted Serbian scientist in the world and he is featured on the 2000 dinars bill.
Even though he didn’t live to see his work recognized, all his calculations were proven to be true decades later.
Working only with a piece of paper and a pen, Milanković proved mathematically that the changes in Earth’s climate aren’t random, instead they occur in cycles. His calculations reveal the already evident prognosis – melting of glaciers, snow in deserts, hot summers and ice cold winters…
Milutin Milanković published his findings on Sun’s influence on Earth’s climate in his most significant work “The Canon of the Earth’s Insolation”, while today this theory is known as “Milanković cycles”.
Milutin Milanković is the creator of the most precise calendar in the world. Using his knowledge in various sciences, he made a calendar that corrects all mistakes and lacks of existing calendars and is the closest to being absolutely precise.
All existing calendars will be usable in centuries to come, but not for eternity. The Julian calendar loses one day every 128 years. The Gregorian calendar is late every 3300 years. Milanković’s calendar will lose a day only after more than 43,000 years. Despite being recognized as the most precise among the scientists, this calendar is still waiting for some better times when we all will be having the same calendar.
Milanković knew the importance of transferring knowledge to younger generations. That is why he wrote one of the best popular-science books – “Through Space and Centuries” in a form of letters written to a friend of his, where he explains the most important topics about the world of astronomy and science in general.
As a professor of Space mechanics at the University of Belgrade, he influenced the development and creation of generations of top astronomers, and he wrote numerous textbooks.
Milutin Milanković, intellectual who was many things, and above all a scientist, made his choice to live in Serbia during the most turbulent times of the 20th century – he survived the two Balkan Wars and both World Wars. He was always respected and admired by his colleagues and science world.
He was the vice-president of the Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences – SANU, the regular member of the German Academy of Sciences and corresponding member of numerous world institutions.
However, common recognition of his work came after his death. Milutin Milanković died in Belgrade in 1958. He was 80 years old.