On The Nature Of Things

The lengthy poem, On the Nature of Things, by Lucretius, published as De Rerum Natura in Latin, presents the Greek philosopher Epicurus's scientific theory. The title of Lucretius's work, Peri physes, is a translation of the title of Epicurus' principal treatise (On Nature). Lucretius structured his discussion into six books, each of which had a very well-crafted introduction. Books I and II lay forth the fundamental ideas of the atomic universe, disprove the competing views of Heracleitus,...