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On the Nature of the Universe
On the Nature of the Universe
Author: Lucretius, R. E. Latham (Translator)
This is a new verse translation of Lucretius's only known work, a didactic poem written in six books of hexameters. Melville's particularly literal translation of the use of metaphor is especially helpful to those looking at the text from a scientific or philosophical point of view.
ISBN-13: 9780140446104
ISBN-10: 0140446109
Publication Date: 12/1/1994
Pages: 336
Rating:
  • Currently 3.6/5 Stars.
 4

3.6 stars, based on 4 ratings
Publisher: Penguin Books
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 1
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Top Member Book Reviews

susank17 avatar reviewed On the Nature of the Universe on + 43 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
There are errors in the stock description above. This edition was translated from the Latin Oxford text by Ronald E. Latham in 1949 and is a prose translation of the original hexameter poetry. An exposition of the teachings of Epicurus, it reflects "the scientific attitude of his time (ca. 100 BCE) towards matter, atoms, the workings of the mind, cosmology, and geology". A very readable translation, which is why it is still in print.

Lest you think it has no application to the 21st century,consider this from the introduction: "The political ideals of the city-state - liberty, democracy, national self-sufficiency - had lost their appeal in a world dominated by large-scale despotisms and shaken by economic crises and social unrest". Sound familiar? I am writing amidst the banking crisis and electioneering of September 2008. The words of Epicurus still have surprising relevance to the present political state.
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