Faust Vrani Croatian historian linguist writer innovator and

Faust Vrančić Croatian historian, linguist, writer, innovator and inventor

Biography � Born in 1551 in Šibenik � Acquires his education in Požun (Pressburg) at his uncle Antun Vrancic, in Padua he studies law and philosophy � Died in Venice on February 27 th in 1617; according to his testamentary wish, his body was buried in his homeland on the island of Prvić

Influence � In 1579, after becoming the secretary of the King Rudolph II, he starts the more thorough study of natural science and technology � There a number of daily encounters with many prominent scientists of the time- the astronomers Tycho Brach and Johannes Kepler, and the onstructor Jocop de Strada who has a great influence on Vrančić

Major works and inventions � Dictionary of five most noble European languages � Machinae novae � Logica nova � Život nikoliko izabranih divic

Dictionary of five most noble European languages � Lat. – Dictionarium quinque nobilissimarum Europae linguarum, Latinae, Italicae, Germanicae, Dalmatiae & Ungaricae � 5000 guidelines for each language were given � Ten years later the revised edition called ‘Dictionary of seven different languages’ together with the Czech and Polish language was published

Dictionarium quinque nobilissimarum Europae linguarum, Latinae, Italicae, Germanicae, Dalmatiae & Ungaricae � The first Croatian dictionary � In Dictionarium at the initial column there is Latin, and then in sequence Italian, Croatian, German and Hungarian language.

Machinae novae � His most significant piece of work � Detailed description of 56 different devices and technical constructions together with 49 large format images followed by comments in Latin, Italian, Spanish, French and German.

Drag a huge burden on the other side

Oil presses

How to cut grain- how to flail and enforce grain

River dredge and mill with the slide roof

Stone bridge and ropeway

Homo volans � In a foursquare sailing canvas, tensed with four equal poles and well tightened ropes on four corners, can a man safely descend without any danger from the tower or any other high position. Even if there is no wind, the strength of the falling man will produce wind, which will hold canvas, in order not to land down with the bang, but to descend slowly. However, the human measure must be exactly aligned with the size of the canvas.

Together with the inventions, he provides the illustration of the cathedral in Šibenik � ‘This church is not my discovery, because it was built 150 years ago. However, because of its beauty and its unusual shape, I wanted to include it here among my new inventions as a garnish of my homeland. Besides, it was made without any wooden construction, and it is not vaulted with brick like the other churches are, but completely covered with large stones which are placed lenghtwise, and which can be seen from the inside as well as the outside of the cathedral.