Pliny the Elder was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire. His work The Natural History was the largest single work to have survived from the Roman Empire to the modern day. The work is divided into 37 books, organized into 10 volumes. These cover topics including astronomy, mathematics, geography, ethnography, anthropology, human physiology, zoology, botany, agriculture, horticulture, pharmacology, mining, mineralogy, sculpture, art, and precious stones.