Ancient Natural History surveys the ways in which people in the ancient world thought about nature. The writings of Aristotle Theophrastus Strabo Pliny are examined as well as the popular beliefs of their contemporaries. Roger French finds that the same natural-historical material was used to serve the purposes of both the Greek philosopher and the Christian allegorist or of a taxonomist like Theophrastus and a collector of curiosa like Pliny. He argues convincingly that the motives of ancient writers on nature were rarely `scientific' and indeed that there was not really any science at all in the ancient world. This book will make fascinating reading for students academics and anyone who is interested in the history of science or in the ancient history of ideas. . Language: English