List of books by Aristotle
Aristotle was a philosopher and scientist. He has been credited with a number of key ideas about the nature of matter, energy, and how they interrelate.
His ideas have had a profound impact on science even today. Aristotle did his writing in the period 350 BC – 275 BC.
Aristotle wrote a large number of books. He also did a lot of research and composed thoughtfully on the subject for close to forty years.
His total contribution is estimated at around 200 books, including 150 in natural science and about 40 in philosophy. A large number of these works is lost, but over twenty-seven canons (collections) of his work survive today (and they form an important source for modern research).
In this article we have listed out books aristotle selections 1927. This is not an exhaustive list as there are more than 500 books written by the philosopher and philosopher scientist.
If need be you can search on bookscan or your public library for these titles as well as his other works.
Before you read any book make sure that it has an English translation available to you so that you can read the text in its original form and understand it better.
Some of Aristotle’s best books :
1. The Historia Animalium (The History of Animals ) –
This is a book about the natural world. It covers anatomy, zoology, botany and physiology.The book is very interesting and covers hundreds of different animals.
It is the first book of its kind on any subject. Aristotle over a period of twenty years interviewed all kinds of animal keepers, hunters and fishermen looking for information about different animals.
Then he used his own reasoning to combine all this information into a single, comprehensive account.
2. De Partibus Animalium (The Parts of Animals ) –
Aristotle did not collect this information from other people, but did it himself. He dissected dead specimens and also had access to human dissections from medical students in Athens .
It is probably the first major book on the subject by anyone in the world . It covers almost everything you would want to know about how animals work and their body parts .
3. De Anima (The Soul ) –
This is a book about how we think and what we can know about ourselves and other people.
The book also has some interesting ideas on the structure of knowledge and then goes on to discuss how our minds work, or don’t work for that matter.
It delves into psychology as well as philosophy/logic/science. The work has been divided into three books and is considered one of his crowning achievements.
4. On the Soul
This book is about the nature and kinds of living things and their souls (which was a central part of Aristotle’s biology). It is a major contribution to biology.
The most famous part of this work makes a distinction between plants and animals . It has three books, each with five chapters , so fifteen chapters in all . It has also been divided into two parts: one on “plant-like” things ( anima ) and the other on “animal-like” things ( animus ).
This book can be found online with an English translation
5. Physics .
This is the only one of Aristotle’s books to survive and is his core work on natural philosophy (the study of the universe and its parts).
It has three books, each with five chapters . It covers topics such as motion, time , space, geometry, meteorology , astronomy , physics, biology and mechanics. It deals with all these subjects properly . It deals with many things not mentioned in any other ancient Greek or Roman work .
6. On Plants
This book deals with the nature of plants. The first part divides plants into those that are wild (and have no human care) and those that are cultivated for human use.
The second part has five chapters on plants that are related to humans, such as vines, trees , shrubs, cereals and legumes.
The next two parts deal with plants that are not for this purpose. The last part is about plants , which Aristotle thinks should not be used by humans to live on .
This book is another of his crowning achievements .
7. On Animals
This book has four parts: Parts 1 and 2 consist of about twenty-two chapters each . This book divides animals into those that can actually move themselves (such as birds ) and those with a soul (such as fish ).
Part 3 has eight chapters on those animals with a soul , such as mammals, reptiles, amphibians and birds . The last part has one chapter and describes the soul in terms of the faculties of the soul.
8. Meteorology
This book comprises three books , each with four chapters . It discusses various natural phenomena, such as sun, moon, stars, lightning , rainbows , thunder and clouds .
In it he attempts to explain why these things happen . He would have observed many of them from his time living in Athens.
It is a natural history work and tries to explain how nature works. The whole series can be found online.
