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Natural History (Pliny)
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<p>The <i>Natural History</i> is a Latin work by <a href="/facts/Pliny_the_Elder/grx67ghR">Pliny the Elder</a>. The largest single work to have survived from the <a href="/facts/Roman_Empire/l4E1aUuV">Roman Empire</a> to the modern day, the <i>Natural History</i> compiles information gleaned from other ancient authors. Despite the work's title, its subject area is not limited to what is today understood by <a href="/facts/Natural_history/pSlAvbTX">natural history</a>; Pliny himself defines his scope as "the natural world, or life". It is encyclopedic in scope, but its structure is not like that of a modern <a href="/facts/Encyclopedia/fRsmb4q6">encyclopedia</a>. It is the only work by Pliny to have survived, and the last that he published. He published the first 10 books in AD 77, but had not made a final revision of the remainder at the time of <a href="/facts/Pliny_the_Elder/grx67ghR">his death</a> during the <a href="/facts/Eruption_of_Mount_Vesuvius_in_79_AD/IHH54Gke">AD 79 eruption of Vesuvius</a>. The rest was published posthumously by Pliny's nephew, <a href="/facts/Pliny_the_Younger/jdhG8I8b">Pliny the Younger</a>. </p><p>The work is divided into 37 books, organised into 10 volumes. These cover topics including <a href="/facts/Astronomy/0ArJVM1p">astronomy</a>, <a href="/facts/Mathematics/pxTouaz4">mathematics</a>, <a href="/facts/Geography/TRd1Toyo">geography</a>, <a href="/facts/Ethnography/qxJRLSwJ">ethnography</a>, <a href="/facts/Anthropology/W6WK1C3a">anthropology</a>, human <a href="/facts/Physiology/fh25y2pQ">physiology</a>, <a href="/facts/Zoology/6Kj13mBt">zoology</a>, <a href="/facts/Botany/PaIRoxnb">botany</a>, <a href="/facts/Agriculture/TGztqzJs">agriculture</a>, <a href="/facts/Horticulture/m8qBLuT3">horticulture</a>, <a href="/facts/Pharmacology/4Rx8s7Ie">pharmacology</a>, <a href="/facts/Mining/g6uDIFab">mining</a>, <a href="/facts/Mineralogy/MeIK9lx9">mineralogy</a>, <a href="/facts/Sculpture/F01q8gtb">sculpture</a>, <a href="/facts/Art/6snb7Ixz">art</a>, and <a href="/facts/Engraved_gem/3Ew8yKY5">precious stones</a>. </p><p>Pliny's <i>Natural History</i> became a model for later encyclopedias and scholarly works as a result of its breadth of subject matter, its <a href="/facts/Citation/V9cIWxl8">referencing</a> of original authors, and its <a href="/facts/Index_(publishing)/amN9DI6s">index</a>. </p>