Reading of “De Rerum Natura” in the Light of Modern Physics

An analysis of the Lucretius atomism is given, that makes particular reference to the naturalistic arguments and contents of the poem. A possible comparison with the atomism of nowadays, based on quite new, both theoretical (quantum mechanics) and experimental (particle accelerators) grounds, must be treated with much care. But it seems possible and interesting to compare at least the world outlined by Lucretius, with the new world, derived by familiarity with modern theories of matter. This is the point I have tried to stress.