Aetna and the Moon: Explaining Nature in Ancient Greece and Rome

by Liba Taub, Mary Jo Nye (Preface)

In Aetna and the Moon, Liba Taub uses two texts to explore how scientific ideas were disseminated in the ancient world. The anonymous author of the Latin Aetna poem explained the science behind the volcano Etna with poetry. The Greek author Plutarch juxtaposed scientific and mythic explanations in his dialogue On the Face on the Moon.
Both texts provide a lens through which Taub considers the nature of scientific communication in ancient Greece and Rome. General readers will appreciate Taub's thoughtful discussion concerning the choices available to ancient authors to convey their ideas about science - as important today as it was in antiquity - while Taub's careful research and lively writing will engage classicists as well as historians of science.

152 pages, Hardcover

First published April 15, 2008