Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 – 79), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, a naturalist and natural philosopher, a naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic Naturalis Historia ("Natural History"), which became an editorial model for encyclopedias. He spent most of his spare time studying, writing, and investigating natural and geographic phenomena in the field.
In these matters the only certainty is that nothing is certain.
No man can ever be secure until he has been forsaken by Fortune.