How long does it take to read De Rerum Natura?
Titus Lucretius Carus
De Rerum Natura by Titus Lucretius Carus takes about 5 hours 14 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 5 hours 14 minutes
A weekend read
First published 1486. 285 pages, about 78,375 words.
11 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 8 hours 43 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 5 hours 14 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 3 hours 16 minutes |
The page count is the median across 537 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
This is regarded as a seminal text of Epicurean science and philosophy. Epicurians discarded both the idea of immortality and the superstitious worship of wilful gods for a life of serene contentment in the available pleasures of nature. Lucretius (c100-c55BC), in elucidating this belief, steers the reader through an extraordinary breadth of subject matter, ranging from the indestructibility of atoms and the discovery of fire to the folly of romantic love and the phenomena of clouds and rainstorms.
Subjects: Latin Didactic poetry, Ancient Philosophy, Poetry, Philosophy, Criticism and interpretation, Nature
