(98? - 55 b.c.) Roman poet who was the author of the unfinished On the
Nature of Things, a
didactic (instructional) poem in six books, setting forth in outline a
complete science of the
universe. The
purpose of the
work was to prove, by investigating the
nature of the
world in which
man lives, that all thingsNincluding manNoperate according to their own
laws and are not in any way influenced by
supernatural powers.
—PDC Volume 4 Approved Glossary