The Nature of Things (Penguin Classics) Book

Lucretius' poem On the Nature of Things combines a scientific and philosophical treatise with some of the greatest poetry ever written. With intense moral fervour he demonstrates to humanity that in death there is nothing to fear since the soul is mortal, and the world and everything in it is governed by the mechanical laws of nature and not by gods; and that by believing this men can live in peace of mind and happiness. He bases this on the atomic theory expounded by the Greek philosopher Epicurus, and continues with an examination of sensation, sex, cosmology, meteorology, and geology, all of these subjects made more attractive by the poetry with which he illustrates them.

Lucretius was a Roman philosopher and poet of the first century BC whose only known work is The Nature of Things (c.50 BC), a didactic poem in six books that expounds his philosophical beliefs. He followed Epicurean ideas, believing the world to...