Excerpt from De Rerum Natura: A Selection From the Fifth Book This edition of the first half of the fifth book of Lucretius has been prepared as objections have been raised that it was unsatisfactory to read only the latter half of the book and that it was therefore advisable to complete the edition. The object of the earlier book was to introduce the poem of Lucretius to lower forms than usual, but as the latter half is considerably easier than the earlier, I believe it would be a practicable solution to read the second part in one term and the first part in the following. This is a feasible suggestion, strange though it may seem, for the creation of the things in the world (11. 78 3-14 57) might easily precede, as being simpler, the more complicated account of the creation of the world and the formation of the heavenly bodies (11. 1 Then, after being gradually accustomed to the style of Lucretius, the harder and more philosophical portion could be read with greater ease later. As was the case with the earlier edition this also is based on Munro's 'magnum opus and owes very much to Mr. Duff's admirable book, especially with regard to the astronomy, and also to the care and suggestions of the reader of the Clarendon Press. The text is practically that of the Clarendon Press. 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.