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Books : On the Nature of the Universe (Penguin Classics)In association with Amazon.comby: Lucretius  List Price: $15.00 Amazon.com's Price: $10.20 You Save: $4.80 (32%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Binding: PaperbackDewey Decimal Number: 187 EAN: 9780140446104 ISBN: 0140446109 Label: Penguin Classics Manufacturer: Penguin Classics Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 336 Publication Date: December 01, 1994 Publisher: Penguin Classics Studio: Penguin Classics Sales Rank: 55679 Related Items:
Editorial Review: Product Description: This is regarded as a seminal text of Epicurean science and philosophy. With a new introduction and commentary and a revised translation, this edition acknowledges advances in textual research and also provides more background information for the reader. Epicurians discarded both the idea of immortality and the superstitious worship of wilful gods for a life of serene contentment in the available pleasures of nature. Lucretius (c100-c55BC), in elucidating this belief, steers the reader through an extraordinary breadth of subject matter, ranging from the indestructibility of atoms and the discovery of fire to the folly of romantic love and the phenomena of clouds and rainstorms. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Nothing can ever be created out of nothing, even by divine powerLucretius's book is an important text in the history of mankind. Its basic philosophy is Epicureanism: `If a man would guide his life by true philosophy, he will find ample riches in a modest livelihood enjoyed with a tranquil mind', because `greed and lust of power make man unhappy. The kings were killed!' Lucretius adopts the method of logical deduction in his scientific research (e.g., why a centaur cannot exist). He is a perfect materialist, even a physicalist. For him, there ... Read More Rating: - From the Heart and Mind of a Latin StudentHaving undertaken the task of translating large chunks of De Rerum Natura, I was directed to this translation of the text in order to help me fill in the gaps present in the Latin selections. (And this means that I have not only translated much of the text myself, but have been forced to submit COMMENTARY on my understanding of Lucretius.) This translation by Latham fulfils my needs well and is good on several levels: it is close to the literal (and very raw) translation from the original Latin text, ... Read More Rating: - Very interesting, very well written and translated.Lucretius' work "On the Nature of the Universe" is surely one of the seminal works in the history of science. His analysis (some of which was deductive, some inductive) anticipated modern scientific theories by about 1800 years. His statement of what became the First and Second laws of Thermodynamics, his anticipation of the Cosmological Principle, along with some of the Laws of Motion (if I remember correctly), are absolutely astounding. It just goes to show that people living 2000 years ago were just ... Read More Rating: - Modern Science or Ancient Philosophy?This book was a real eye-opener. I went into it expecting to read something ancient, but instead found something that sounded suspiciously modern. It was like reading an ancient prophecy of the worldview of many of today's scientists. This makes me wonder. If the view that all things are the unplanned results of blind forces is a discovery of modern science, then why were people like Lucretius proclaiming it 2000 years ago? Far from making Lucretius prophetic, this makes some of modern science ... Read More Rating:  - Great Book, Bad Edition [Penguin]This is my favorite book. I've been through three different copies: a now out-of-print Classics Club copy, the Loeb Classics Library copy with the original Latin facing the English text, and this Penguin edition. The Penguin is by far the worst of those three. Among its faults is the fact that it's translated into prose, which makes for an easier read but in the end dumbs down the text and reduces it in beauty; and while the footnotes are sometimes informative, most of them I find insulting to both the reader's ... Read More Browse for similar items by category:
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