To the several books which analysed separate subjects treated in the Elder Pliny's Naturalis Historia, Healy's Pliny the Elder on Science and Technology is the latest addition, which fills up a long-standing gap. Indeed, Healy's book marks the first attempt to systematically scrutinize Pliny's description of materials, processes and phenomena which fall under the realm not only of Chemistry, but also of Physics and of the Earth Sciences. The problem with the study of many ancient authors is to give a sound interpretation of their work, and derive a picture of their thought out of a low number of scattered, often unrelated and incomplete fragments, testimonies and quotations. Conversely, Healy has been faced with the opposite, yet probably as hard, problem of studying in its entirety a text of unusual length and complexity, by one of the most controversial authors of Roman literature: I therefore deem his effort both seminal and monumental.
Review of Pliny the Elder on Science and Technology by J. F. Healy
E Paparazzo
2001
Abstract
To the several books which analysed separate subjects treated in the Elder Pliny's Naturalis Historia, Healy's Pliny the Elder on Science and Technology is the latest addition, which fills up a long-standing gap. Indeed, Healy's book marks the first attempt to systematically scrutinize Pliny's description of materials, processes and phenomena which fall under the realm not only of Chemistry, but also of Physics and of the Earth Sciences. The problem with the study of many ancient authors is to give a sound interpretation of their work, and derive a picture of their thought out of a low number of scattered, often unrelated and incomplete fragments, testimonies and quotations. Conversely, Healy has been faced with the opposite, yet probably as hard, problem of studying in its entirety a text of unusual length and complexity, by one of the most controversial authors of Roman literature: I therefore deem his effort both seminal and monumental.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
