About the book

In their book Astronomija na Slovenskem, the authors describe the thousand-year long tradition of astronomy on the Slovenian grounds and the work of our astronomers abroad. They break new grounds in many areas and point out facts that have been unknown up until today. Slovenian astronomy has a deep and long tradition. To know it is not only a thing of the historians, but especially and wholly a contribution to the self-consciousness of a nation. It took the authors some years to complete this truly extensive and unique account of the history of Slovenian astronomy. They believe and hope they have achieved a great work. That, of course, is for the readers to judge. That is why the book is written for the widest circle of readers possible. About the authors: Marijan Prosen – Majo, born in Brežice, is a professional astronomer and professor of mathematics and physics. He has graduated under the mentorship of professor Dominko. He worked at the astronomic-geophysical observatory at Golovec for ten years and taught mathematics, physics and astronomy at Ljubljana high schools before retiring. In the meantime, he worked at the National Education Institute of Slovenia. He is a pedagogue and a textbook writer and is active professionally and non-professionally as a propagator of astronomy and a chronicler of the world and the Slovenian history of astronomy (see Astronomija v Enciklopediji Slovenije and Perlah, Strauss, Vega, Hallerstein, Plemelj, Čermelj, Dominko, Valvasor and others). He is somewhat active in the field of the Slovenian astronomic terminology (see Leksikon astronomije) and onomastics (see Imena nebesnih teles) as well as in the literary world (stories for children). He writes exclusively in the Slovenian language, a fact he is proud of. His bibliography includes about 80 publications, one fifth of which are astronomy and geometry textbooks. He has written about 1,200 articles, held approximately 330 workshops, group observations and lectures on the subject of astronomy, as well as an independent exhibition of his works. He has been awarded the Levstik award and by the Slovenian scientific institution (SZF) the awards Donator, Zvezda leta and Prometej znanosti, as well as the life’s work award of the Republic of Slovenia on the field of education (the former Žagarjeva nagrada). He has also been presented the order of work with a silver wreath. M. Prosen has been publishing articles on the history of our astronomy for a long time. In the past years, he has worked together with S. Južnič many times. Together they have published more than 10 articles and three books about the important Slovenian scientists, namely Josip Plemelj in komet, Fran Dominko v slovenski astronomiji and J. V. Valvasor in astronomija. Dr. Stanislav Južnič, an American and a Slovenian, was born in San Francisco. He has graduated from the University of Ljubljana department of technical physics under the mentorship of Prof. Dr. Robert Blinc. He got his B.A. and doctor’s degree at the department of history of the same university in 1999 (mentor: Prof. Dr. Vasilij Melik). His primary field of research is the physics of the Carniolan Jesuits and their students in the 17th and 18th centuries. After taking his doctorate, he researched the achievements of the Carniolan Jesuit-astronomer Avguštin Hallerstein in Beijing (2002), the scientific, military and freemasonic activities of Jurij Vega (2003), and the hardly believable achievements of Vega's professor of astronomy, Gabrijel Gruber (2004) at the University of Saint Louis and at the department of the history of science at University of Oklahoma. He is interested in the connections of the Ljubljana Jesuits with their rich patrons, the princes Turjačans and the barons Erbergs, and in the scientific planning of the Jesuitic student Janez Vajkard Valvasor. He has published more than 300 scientific works in Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, Serbia, Russia, England and USA. In 2006, he discovered the second edition of Kopernik that had been lying forgotten in Ljubljana. He feels responsible to dedicate his knowledge also to the memory of his refugee ancestors from Kostel ob Kolpi; that is why he has crowned his many publications about the genealogy of southern middle Slovenia with the book Kostel, which was published in Pennsylvania a few months ago. S. Južnič has been publishing articles on the history of our astronomy for quite some time. In the past few years he has worked together with M. Prosen. Up until today, they have published more than ten articles and three books about the important Slovenian scientists, namely Josip Plemelj in komet, Fran Dominko v slovenski astronomiji and J. V. Valvasor in astronomija.