Boscovich in Britain

J. L. Heilbron

pp. 99-116

in: Theodore Arabatzis, Jürgen Renn, Ana Simoes (eds), Relocating the history of science, Berlin, Springer, 2015

Abstract

The famous atomic theory invented by Roger Boscovich, which he described as a mixture of metaphysics and geometry, aimed primarily at a reform in the teaching of natural philosophy in Jesuit colleges. The suppression of the Society soon rendered that use moot. The theory lived on, however, and prospered, primarily in Britain. Among the causes of this unlikely success was the removal from the theory of the metaphysical traits that to Boscovich were its main attraction. What is known as the Boscovichian atom is not Boscovich's atom.