The Beginnings of Natural Science Writing in Croatian

It is shown that writing about natural sciences in Croatian developed in the Revival and post-Revival period and that it achieved its peak with the foundation of specialised scientific periodicals. The beginnings are related to the publication of the first translations and original pieces of writing in the Revival journals Danica ilirska, Novouređeni ilirski kalendar and Gospodarski list, and then in conjunction with the publication of the first natural history text book in Croatian Naravopisje za porabu gimnazijalnih učionicah (Zagreb, 1850). This was actually a translation, done by Antun Šuflaj, retired physics teacher of the Zagreb Royal Academy of Science. The first textbook from the natural sciences originally written in Croatian by Josip Partaš was published three years later, also in Zagreb. The contents of the first treatises published in the Reports of the real high schools (i.e., natural history) are discussed; they were written by the teachers, and on the whole transmit contemporary scientific views from the European centres to the Croatian milieu. Difficulties in the construction of Croatian vocabulary are shown. It is demonstrated that after the foundation of the Academy of Sciences and Arts in 1866 and its journal Rad and after the foundation of the natural science departments of Zagreb University in 1876 and its journals, then scientific writing in Croatian developed to the level of European sciences