Pliny's Natural History is an extraordinarily important document in the history of Western science. From antiquity through the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, Pliny's massive compilation of knowledge remained a valued source of practical information on medicine and on the natural world. Pliny's reputation as a scholar plummeted, however, as his science was overtaken and new mistakes were revealed in his use of his sources. Most nineteenth- and twentieth-century scholarship on the Natural History emphasized Pliny's errors and his pedantry in compiling an encyclopedia based on his reading of the original research of earlier authors. Since the original DSB article, however, Pliny's standing has risen again, as a result of new approaches to the text.
Study Notes
Category
