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Latin 122 :  Ancient Natural Philosophy
Course Catalog No: 32827
308C Doe Library
TuTh
Trevor M. Murphy
12:30-2:00

 

This course focuses on Latin scientific texts in the first century CE, investigating the world-view of ancient natural philosophers. What motivated them to pursue knowledge about nature? What did they think they were doing? Were their projects comparable to the modern idea of science? We’ll read, in Latin, excerpts from Seneca and Pliny the Elder, paying most attention to meteorology, geology, and anthropology, with some excursions into astronomy and medicine.