On Nature (Ancient Greek:) is the name of a philosophical treatise written by the Ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus, which can be considered his main work. The work comprised 37 books and consisted of lectures given by Epicurus.[1][2][3]
The work has for the most part disappeared, but some excerpts have survived compiled from burnt papyri scrolls found in the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum. Most of the surviving papyri are kept in the National Library of Naples. Important parts of Book II are preserved in the British Museum.[1][2]
Epicurus' Letter to Herodotus appears to be a summary of On Nature, or at least of books I–XIII.[4] Similarly, Lucretius' poem De rerum natura probably follows, in many respects, Epicurus' work.[2]