Physical Science in the Time of Nero; being a Translation of the “Quaestiones Naturales” of Seneca

Abstract

THE genius of the Roman people was mainly for action, conquest, and organisation. In the realms of thought they made but few original advances, here showing a striking contrast to the Greeks, whose progress in civilisation some few centuries previously had been intellectual rather than material, and made in art, philosophy, and speculation as to the deeper problems of life and nature. Of course, western nations owe, and have owed, an immense debt to the intellectual advances made by the Greeks, and there seems little danger that this debt will ever be underestimated. But there is reason to fear that full justice may not be done to the scientific progress made by the Romans; and Mr. Clarke's admirable translation of Seneca's “Quaestiones Naturales” comes very opportunely to illustrate its extent.

Physical Science in the Time of Nero; being a Translation of the “Quaestiones Naturales” of Seneca.

By J. Clarke, with notes on the treatise by Sir Archibald Geikie, K.C.B., P.R.S. Pp. liv + 368. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1910.) Price 10s. net.