Details

Subject(s)

• Natural history—History [Browse]
• Science, Ancient [Browse]

Series

Sciences of antiquity. [More in this series]

Summary note

Ancient Natural History surveys the ways in which people in the ancient world thought about nature. The writings of Aristotle, Theophrastus, Strabo, Pliny are examined, as well as the popular beliefs of their contemporaries. Roger French finds that the same natural-historical material was used to serve the purposes of both the Greek philosopher and the Christian allegorist, or of a taxonomist like Theophrastus and a collector of curiosa like Pliny. He argues convincingly that the motives of ancient writers on nature were rarely `scientific' and, indeed, that there was not really any s

Notes

Description based upon print version of record.

Bibliographic references

Includes bibliographical references (p. 304-348) and index.

Language note

English

Contents

BOOK COVER; HALF-TITLE; TITLE; COPYRIGHT; CONTENTS; PLATES; GENERAL SERIES INTRODUCTION; INTRODUCTION; 1 ARISTOTLE AND THE NATURES OF THINGS; 2 THEOPHRASTUS, PLANTS AND ELEPHANTS; 3 GEOGRAPHY AND NATURAL HISTORY; 4 GREECE AND ROME; 5 THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PLINY; 6 ANIMALS AND PARABLES; NOTES; INDEX

ISBN

• 1-134-96267-3
• 1-134-96268-1
• 9786610151257
• 1-280-15125-0
• 6610151253
• 0-203-97416-6

OCLC

• 475952453
• 61279770

Doi

• 10.4324/9780203974162

Statement on language in description

Princeton University Library aims to describe library materials in a manner that is respectful to the individuals and communities who create, use, and are represented in the collections we manage. Read more...