Naturalis Historia: Volume I

A Natural History

Humans have been intriqued and interested in natural history all throughout time. One of the first important and thorough writings about natural history came from Ancient Rome, Pliny the Elder wrote “Naturalis Historia”, or A Natural History, in 77 AD. It was the first encyclopedia and consisted of 37 volumes. He wanted to “set forth in detail all the contents of the entire world.” With much information on geology, geography, meteorology, botany, zoology, astronomy, human physiology, and medicine, he also wrote about such mythical beasts as the basilisk as being real. Nevertheless, his work was a milestone in teaching the public about the natural world. If interested, you can find more about Pliny’s work and the Naturalis Historia text here (in Latin and English!).

Ever since 5-10 million years ago, when the first hominids began to dominate, humans have lived among animals and nature. Plants, herbs, roots, nuts, and berries were collected for food, and trees were used as shelter, much like how our primate relatives live. Early humans relied on their larger brains to think up new ideas and strategies for obtaining food. Eventually, domestication arrived. Humans learned ways of living with wolves that benefited each other so much that a new species evolved, the domestic dog. Cattle and livestock benefited humans in that it gave them a source of food without the need to travel and hunt. The livestock, therefore, were content since they were being continuously fed and cared for. A balance between humans and nature was thus established. Neither had more control or less control over the other.

Once the middle ages arrived, we tried to disassociate ourselves from nature. We were humans, afterall, not animals. Innovations in science arose during the Renaissance, which gave us new insights on astronomy, mechanics, physiology, etc. But nothing like the early writings of Aristotle or Pliny about the natural world. The industrial revolution came with a bang. All of a sudden we humans controlled the world. Factories, machines, technology; all to do everything for us. Humans were separated from nature. We no longer felt like we were part of mother earth. We forgot.

A truly remarkable thing happened in the 19th century. A naturalist named Charles Darwin wrote a book called The Descent of Man in 1871. He proposed, well actually, had evidence for the fact that all living creatures were descedants of a common ancestor. Maybe we weren’t so far from nature as we thought. In the years that followed, new research and knowledge in zoology led scientists to discover that animals aren’t so different from us. They think, have emotions, raise families. Zoologists began classifying species based common characteristics and ancestry. Humans also are classified, as part of the hominid family along with chimpanzees (our closest relative), bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans. Genetics has played a large role in finding so many similarities between humans and chimps that our DNA is 98% the same. Perhaps we are still that wild primate that lives in the forest.

Darwin Day

Today is Darwin Day! Charles Darwin was born today in 1809 in Shrewsbury, England. I’m not sure what one is supposed to do on Darwin Day, but you could always read Origin of Species or The Descent of Man or The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. Good reading. Or think about evolution. The possibilities are endless!