Book Description

Excerpt from T. Lucreti Cari De Rerum Natura: Liber Quintus The fifth book of Lucretius contains some of his finest work and also, being less technical and dry than any of the other books, is best suited to serve as an introduction to the study of the De Rerum Natura, This edition has been prepared with that object in view: it aims both at explaining this one book in detail for beginners and at smoothing the way to the comprehension of other and more difficult parts of the poem. My obligations are very great, in all parts of my book, to Munros famous edition. In the Introduction, I have also made considerable use of Professor Sellars sympathetic and felicitous criticism in his two volumes on the Roman poets; and much of my fourth section is abridged from Zeller. For the astronomical section I have to thank the dexterity and kindness of Mr H. L. Callendar, Fellow of Trinity College. It may be worth saying here that the astronomical theories of Lucretius are simple enough, so long as they are purely fanciful, and difficult only when they approximate to the truth. Consequently the information here given is only a simplification of what may be found in the ordinary astronomical text-books. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.