Petrović contributed significantly to the study of differential equations and phenomenology,[1] founded engineering mathematics in Serbia,[2] and invented one of the first prototypes of a hydraulic analog computer.

Subsequently, in September 1889, he too went abroad, to Paris to receive further education, and to prepare for the entrance exam to the École Normale Supérieure.

Mihailo Petrović Alas also constructed a hydrointegrator, and won the gold medal at the World Exposition in Paris 1900.

He patented a total of 10 inventions, published 300 scientific works and a number of books and journals from his sea expeditions.

These expeditions included trips to Azores, Newfoundland and Labrador, Suez Canal, Madagascar, Cape Verde, Canary Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Bermuda Triangle, Caribbean and others.

[1] Petrovć also visited both the North and South poles, researched the culture of Eskimos and took part in whale hunting expeditions.

[5] He received numerous awards and acknowledgments and was a member of several foreign science academies (Prague, Bucharest, Warsaw, Kraków) and scientific societies.

[1] Due to his scientific work and results, Mihailo Petrović Alas is among the greatest Serbian mathematicians as well as one of the 100 most prominent Serbs.

In the Association for Culture, Art and International Cooperation "Adligat" in Belgrade there is an extensive fund of documents from the legacy of Mihailo Petrović Alas, including his childhood photos, letters from his grandfather who educated him, diplomas, notes, a whole bundle of published and unpublished manuscripts, as well as numerous exam reports signed by him, among which is the report on the defense of the graduation exam jointly signed by Mihailo Petrović and Milutin Milanković.