22 September 2009

BELGRADE - Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and Technological Development Bozidar Djelic today opened the international symposium ‘Climate Changes on the Eve of the Second Decade of the Century’, dedicated to the celebration of the 130th anniversary of Milutin Milankovic’s birth.
Opening the symposium at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU) Djelic said that Milankovic showed that Serbia can produce ingenious minds and that good results can be achieved by joining individual talents to good state policies.

He recalled that the government has declared 2009 the year of Milutin Milankovic as this year Serbia celebrates not only the 130th anniversary of his birth, but also 100 years since Milankovic decided to return from Vienna and continue his career in his home country.

He said that this was not an easy decision to make, but noted that Serbia recognised the importance of his choice and provided him with good working conditions.

We should contemplate ways of encouraging our future scientists to make the same decisions. They do not have to spend their entire career in Serbia, but could start their careers here, Djelic said.

The Deputy Prime Minister recalled a famous sentence by Milankovic who said that ‘great ideas can emerge even from the smallest places’, adding that talent combined with good state policies can help to develop the economy, improve the quality of life and become a model for developing society in the years to come.

SANU president Nikola Hajdin said that Milutin Milankovic published a number of works in Serbian and German, received numerous recognitions, and that his theories remain an inspiration in several branches of science.

Hajdin said that a number of scientists from Serbia and the world will address the symposium, which will last until September 25 and whose goal is to acquaint the domestic and international public with the importance of Milankovic and his works.

The symposium is held under UNESCO’s auspices and is endorsed by the Ministry of Science and Technological Development and the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning.

Milutin Milankovic is a famous Serbian geophysicist, climatologist and founder of the Celestial Mechanics Department at Belgrade University. He is particularly famous for his Ice Age theory that explains long-term climate changes on Earth as being caused by variations in the Earth’s orbit, which have become known as Milankovic’s cycles.

Source: EkoForum