Naturalis Historia was the first compiled collection of writing, which during the modern day would be referred to as an “encyclopedia.” Written by Pliny the Elder in the 1st century A.D., Naturalis Historia was divided into 37 unique books and contained more than 20,000 individual facts. Naturalis Historia was comprised of a vast array of subjects including astronomy, geography, zoology, botany, medicine, and even artwork, making it one of the most ambitious attempts in history to catalog and consolidate the entirety of human knowledge. Unlike earlier publications which often focused upon a singular discipline (e.g. medicine but not science or law but not ethics etc.), Pliny the Elder’s Naturalis Historia compilation sought to collect and streamline the entirety of the natural world and the human understanding of it into a single reference point. Pliny the Elder’s encyclopedic vision influenced scholars for centuries after his death, and his work served as one of the main pillars of Medieval and Renaissance education in the centuries which followed. Shortly after completing this compendium in 77 A.D., Pliny the Elder died during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. at age 55 whilst attempting to rescue those who could not escape from the volcano’s clutch. Fortunately, the entirety of his Naturalis Historia work survived this natural disaster