On the Nature of Things
On the Nature of Things is 73,668 words — about 4h 55m at 250 words per minute, across 28 chapters. Measure your own speed and read it free, here.
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4h 55m at 250 words per minute
73,668 words · 28 chapters · counted from the full text, not estimated from a page count. Measure your own speed and this becomes your number.
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How it opens
Mother of Rome, delight of Gods and men, Dear Venus that beneath the gliding stars Makest to teem the many-voyaged main And fruitful lands--for all of living things Through thee alone are evermore conceived, Through thee are risen to visit the great sun-- Before thee, Goddess, and thy coming on, Flee stormy wind and massy cloud away, For thee the daedal Earth bears scented flowers, For thee waters of the unvexed deep…
Details
- AuthorLucretius
- SourceProject Gutenberg #785
- Length73,668 words · 4h 55m of reading
- Chapters28
- DictionaryNot yet generated
- CopyrightPublic domain in the United States
- Source checked2026-08-28
Contents
28 chapters
Recovered from the original source text, so you can open the book at any of them.
- 01PROEM
- 02SUBSTANCE IS ETERNAL
- 03THE VOID
- 04CHARACTER OF THE ATOMS
- 05CONFUTATION OF OTHER PHILOSOPHERS
- 06THE INFINITY OF THE UNIVERSE
- 07PROEM
- 08ATOMIC MOTIONS
- 09ATOMIC FORMS AND THEIR COMBINATIONS
- 10ABSENCE OF SECONDARY QUALITIES
- 11INFINITE WORLDS
- 12PROEM
- 13NATURE AND COMPOSITION OF THE MIND
- 14THE SOUL IS MORTAL
- 15FOLLY OF THE FEAR OF DEATH
- 16Cerberus and Furies, and that Lack of Light
- 17PROEM
- 18EXISTENCE AND CHARACTER OF THE IMAGES
- 19THE SENSES AND MENTAL PICTURES
- 20SOME VITAL FUNCTIONS
- 21THE PASSION OF LOVE
- 22PROEM
- 23THE WORLD IS NOT ETERNAL
- 24ORIGINS OF VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL LIFE
- 25ORIGINS AND SAVAGE PERIOD OF MANKIND
- 26BEGINNINGS OF CIVILIZATION
- 27PROEM
- 28THE PLAGUE ATHENS
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