Physical science in the time of Nero being a translation of the Quaestiones natu
- Language:
- English
- Status:
- Complete work
- Authorship:
- Written by the author
- Condition of the text:
- No scanning noise detected (automatic measure over the whole text, not checked by hand)
- Extent:
- ~130,000 words · 610 passages
Cite this work
- APALucius Annaeus Seneca. (n.d.). Physical science in the time of Nero being a translation of the Quaestiones natu. Digital reproduction: SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/seneca/physical-science-in-the-time-of-nero-being-a-translation-of-the-quaestiones-natu
- MLALucius Annaeus Seneca. Physical science in the time of Nero being a translation of the Quaestiones natu. Digital reproduction, SigPhi, https://sigphiai.com/en/works/seneca/physical-science-in-the-time-of-nero-being-a-translation-of-the-quaestiones-natu.
- ChicagoLucius Annaeus Seneca. Physical science in the time of Nero being a translation of the Quaestiones natu. Digital reproduction, SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/seneca/physical-science-in-the-time-of-nero-being-a-translation-of-the-quaestiones-natu.
Reference to the edition that SigPhi reproduces: SigPhi is its digital reproduction, not its publisher. The edition's year is not in the metadata (hence "n.d."), and the translator appears only when recorded.
What it is about
Seneca's 'Natural Questions', written around AD 63: his attempt to explain the phenomena of sky and earth without recourse to the gods.
Context and history
It deals with meteors, lightning, rivers, springs, hail, floods, earthquakes and comets. The value lies not in the results — many are wrong — but in the purpose and the manner: Seneca holds that a frightening phenomenon stops frightening once its cause is known, and that studying nature is part of the Stoic therapy against fear. Hence the moral digressions that interrupt the exposition and are in fact its point. The book on comets is the most remarkable: against all antiquity, Seneca maintains that they are heavenly bodies with orbits of their own and that one day their law will be known. The title of this English edition, by Clarke and Geikie, is the translator's, not Seneca's.
Editorial context, not a citable source: unlike the passages of the work itself, these statements cannot be checked against the corpus.
XIII. There may be two mock suns simultaneously. Some think the one is a reflection of the other, the clouds acting as mirrors set opposite to one another. Mock suns, especially in the South, are a sign of rain 36 XIV. Other celestial fires. “_Cave meteors_,” “_Barrel meteors_,” “_Chasms_,” with a brief description of each. The rapidity of their flight, just as of lightning, deceives the sight. Their origin and cause. They indicate wind 37 XV. _Gleams_ (_flashes_, σέλα). Their production and motions, varieties of them. Some do damage. Some are analogous to comets. “_Bearded_,” “_torches_,” “_cypress_” are different kinds. “_Beams_” and “_barrels_” may be of the same class. A curious case where such an appearance raised an alarm of fire. They are real fires. On the contrary, rainbows and halos are mere reflections. Mirrors have this wonderful power of false presentation 39 XVI. The “mirrored den” of Hostius Quadra 41 XVII. The philosophy of the looking-glass. The evolution of mirrors. Mirrors of full length are now used. They cost a fortune greater than the Senate gave Scipio’s daughters. A harmless necessary device has become an instrument of luxury, the adornment of women, the burden of men, nay, part of the kit of the soldier 44 BOOK II [THE NATURE OF AIR. THUNDER AND LIGHTNING] [I.-XI. Prefatory to treatment of thunder and lightning, descriptive of the nature of the air, in which these phenomena occur.] I. Divisions of physical science--astronomy, meteorology, geography. Cross divisions, _e.g.…