An epic poem written in Latin as De rerum natura by Lucretius which explores the materialist philosophy of the Greek philosopher Epicurus. Lucretius divided his argument into six books. Books I and II establish the main principles of the atomic universe. Book III demonstrates the atomic structure and mortality of the soul and ends with a triumphant sermon on the theme "Death is nothing to us." Book IV describes the mechanics of sense perception, thought, and certain bodily functions and condemns sexual passion. Book V describes the creation and working of the world and the celestial bodies and the evolution of life and human society. Book VI explains remarkable phenomena of the earth and sky, in particular, thunder and lightning. Using poetic language and metaphor, the Lucretius describes a world ruled by physical principles, rather than the divine will. Called the "the most complete analysis of the atomic composition of matter prior to twentieth-century nuclear physics."

This edition, first published by BCP in 1984, is designed - with its extensive annotation and vocabulary - to provide all the help required by the comparative beginner in Latin who is coming to Lucretius for the first time. At the same time the Introduction and Commentary are full enough to incorporate material of interest to the Lucretian specialist. The first book of Lucretius claims attention not only on the strength of the famous introduction to the whole poem but because its treatment of atoms and void provides the fundamental basis on which the remaining books depend. The edition balances understanding of the philosophical subject matter with appreciation of the poetry.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.