TO THE 250TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WORK BY R .J. BOSKOVIC 'THEORY OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY' (K 250-letiyu raboty R .J. Boshkovicha 'Teoria naturalnoi filosofii')

Short biographic account of scientist-encyclopaedist R. J. Boskovic (1711-1787) is given. He is the author of many works, but 'Theory of Natural Philosophy' (Theoria Philosophiae Naturalis) is the main work of him. Recognition of primary simple elements makes it common with the theory of Leibniz, whereas the idea about central forces depending on the distance makes it common with the theory of Newton. The teaching of Boskovic is based on the notion of simple elements of the matter, which are indivisible, discontinued, homogenous, inertial, and divided by intervals never reaching zero. The mechanical part of 'Theory of Natural Philosophy' contains a proof of several physics theorems. Apart from this, an original solution to the problem of multiplicity of worlds is given, suggesting a multiplicity of encircled and isolated systems (worlds) of the same order or varying orders, which constitute the cosmic system. Ideas of Boskovic have been confirmed in cosmological hypotheses relied on the theory of relativity. However, reference to his name is not found in historical accounts of the rise of relativity ideas. Boskovic argued that motion is the most important property of the bodies, that stillness doesn't exist in the nature, and a motion of an elementary particle causes motions of other bodies and changes their weight, and, eventually, the motion of the whole universe. Analogous suggestion that became widely known under the name of 'world formula' was articulated by Laplace. Boskovich said that his 'Theory of Natural Philosophy' was his 'great opus' and his 'new world'.