De Re Metallica ('On the nature of metals').

摘要

De Re Metallica by Georgius Agricula (1494-1555) is a remarkable book-and not just because US President Herbert Hoover (a mining engineer by training) and his wife translated it into English from the original Latin. The text provides a comprehensive description of the mining industry during the early Renaissance. The descriptions in De Re Metallica were based on personal observations as Agricola traveled and practiced medicine in German mining communities-some of which still contain active mines. In De Re Metallica, we have the first comprehensive look at the interactions between engineering and human health.