In a more or less alphabetic order: a.o., aconite, wormwood, and the potency of drugs. Book 32: Sea animals Publication date 1847-49 Topics Natural history Publisher [London] Printed for the Club by G. Barclay Collection cdl; americana Digitizing sponsor MSN His nephew Pliny the Younger gives an indication how devoted his uncle was to reading and studying, which was like working to him. Book 6: Geography of the far south and the far east A.o., forces of nature, goby, sting-ray, Ovid on fishing, coral, tortoise, oysters, medical uses of oysters, leeches. For example, in his catalogue of people who have reached a venerable old age, he mentions one man from Bologna who died when he was 150 years old - at least, he had been a tax payer for 150 years. Updates? A.o., pearls, myrrhine ware, fluorspar, rock-crystal, Greek accounts of the origin of amber, the truth about amber, gemstones, diamonds, emeralds, beryls, tourmaline, amethysts, sapphires, topaz, rainbow stone, and finally a list of "best ofs", including a praise of Italy and a survey of the world's most expensive products. Omissions? A.o., history of the olive-tree and the production of oil, mistaken ideas about the olive tree, uses of oil, Cato's instructions for olive growing, artificial oil, apples, pears, grafts, storage of fruit, figs, stories about figs, cherry-trees, myrtle. Book 31: Water And it must be said: Pliny lives up to the expectations. Across 10 volumes, Pliny tackled every conceivable topic, from world history and medicine to geography and astrology. The Natural History, which was dedicated to Titusin 77, was, acco… By the end of the 17th century, as the scientific method of empirical observation replaced speculation, the work had been superseded. Publication date 1855 Topics Natural history -- Pre-Linnean works Publisher At the same time, he really tries to offer descriptions of every aspect of the world. The first book is a catalogue of sources, which is followed by two groups of eighteen books. A.o. Book 4: Geography of eastern and northern Europe. Book 21 and 22: Drugs obtained from flowers and herbs Pliny's Natural history. Pliny's sometimes irritating polemics against Greek silliness are part and parcel of his project. A.o., early farming, treatises on agriculture, Cato on buying a farm, farmhouses, choosing a manager, secrets of good farming, grain, pulses, wheat, barley, porridge, milling, bread, bakers at Rome, harvesting corn, the storage of grain. Niccolò Leoniceno’s 1492 tract on the errors of Pliny was the first of several works questioning the accuracy and usefulness of the Natural History. A.o., bees, hives, the sources of honey, the organization of bees, honeycombs, drones, queen bees, portents provided by bees, bee-stings, the silk-moth, silk production, comparative zoology, and taxonomy: eyes, heart, anthropoid apes, bad breath of animals. The same sentiment is expressed in the last line of the encyclopedia: This line is crucial to understanding the text, which is above all a Roman text. A.o. An accessible edition of the Natural History can be found in the Penguin series. A.o., elephants, the games of Pompey, snakes, Aristotle as a zoologist, lions, dromedaries and camels, giraffes, the legendary manticore, basilisk, werewolf, crocodiles, hippopotamus, hedgehogs, dogs, the dog and horse of Alexander the Great, horses, bullfights, holy cows, sheep, wool, embroidery and dyeing woolen cloth, apes. A.o., marble, marble statues, sculptors, Phidias, Praxiteles, Scopas, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Laocoon group, the Nile group, veined marbles, marble veneers, marble dressing, granite, obelisks, obelisks at Rome, an obelisk used as gnomon, the pyramids and the sphinx of Giza, the lighthouse of Alexandria, labyrinths, the temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the buildings of Rome, sewers, houses, Nero's Golden House, Scaurus' theater, aqueducts, water supply, magnetite, asbestos, haematite, selenite, onyx, mosaics, glass. A.o., origins of magic, Zarathustra, Magians. All rights reserved. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Within the books, there is no real recognizable system, and one must not be surprised to find a description of navigation in the book on horticulture. Seeing the elder Pliny's maniacal working habits, one starts to understand why he remained unmarried. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Natural-History-encyclopedic-scientific-by-Pliny-the-Elder, Pennsylvania Center for the Book - Biography of Jeanette MacDonald. A.o., the ostrich, eagle, the eagle as standard of the legion, cocks, geese, swallows, nightingales, talking birds, carrier pigeons, parrots, parakeets, magpies, ravens, aviaries, animal reproduction, the five senses. Book 8: Land animals A.o., thyme, bees and honey, helenium, Greek weights and measures. Book 16: Forest trees and botany For centuries the Natural History served as the Western world’s primary source of scientific information and theory. The greatest intellectual during the age of the Roman Empire, Pliny the Elder, combined all of those subjects and more into one sprawling encyclopedic work, the Natural History. A.o., remedies obtained from man himself, discussion of language, the power of charms, incantations, superstitions, human saliva, will-power, sexual intercourse, remedies from elephants and lions, milk and butter, fat, suet, marrow, gall, blood, poisons, dandruff, baldness, beauty treatment, soporifics, aphrodisiacs. A.o., plants used in medicine, Mithridates's interest in medicine, Greek writers in herbal medicine, moly, mandrake, hemlock, erigeron and toothache. The division of human knowledge into different fields--biology, history, mathematics, medicine, and so on--is a relatively new invention. A.o., Greece, the Peloponnese, the Black Sea, the Danube, Scythia, Germania, Britain. Pliny offers all kinds of information critically, mentions his sources, and often sees the fun of certain things. A.o., history of bronze working, bronze statues, Greek and Roman styles of sculpture, famous statues, colossi, the Colossus of Rhodes, famous Greek sculptors, copper, copper slag and copper compounds used in medicine, iron-ores and smelting, lode-stone, lead, tin, medical use of lead. The first set is a description of nature, the second set describes nature in its relation to mankind. A.o., history of the medical profession (a.k.a. The natural history of Pliny by Pliny, the Elder; Bostock, John, 1773-1846; Riley, Henry T. (Henry Thomas), 1816-1878. In fact, Pliny is romanizing science, which had until then been a Greek territory. Book 35: Earth Home » Articles » Person » Pliny the Elder » Pliny the Elder, Natural History, About Pictures Sources Countries Languages Categories Tags Thanks FAQ Donate Contact Articles Stubs. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Get exclusive access to content from our 1768 First Edition with your subscription. A.o., power of vinegar, walnuts. Pliny the Elder, Latin in full Gaius Plinius Secundus, (born 23 ce, Novum Comum, Transpadane Gaul [now in Italy]—died August 24, 79, Stabiae, near Mount Vesuvius), Roman savant and author of the celebrated Natural History, an encyclopaedic work of uneven accuracy that was an authority on scientific matters up to the Middle Ages.