Pliny the Elder

Hello! My name is Pliny the Elder. I lived a very, very long time ago in a place called the Roman Empire. Even when I was a little boy, I was super curious. I loved looking at everything around me—the wiggly worms, the tall trees, the shiny stars in the night sky, and the sparkly rocks on the ground. I always asked, 'Why?' and 'How?' because I wanted to learn about everything in our wonderful world.

I decided to write down everything I learned so I could share it with everyone! I traveled and read and talked to people to find out as much as I could. I wrote about amazing animals, colorful plants, and faraway lands. I put all my notes into a giant book called Naturalis Historia. You could call it my 'Big Book of Everything'! It was one of the very first encyclopedias, a book filled with facts from A to Z. It made me so happy to share my love of learning.

Besides writing, I was also a commander of big ships. One day in the year 79, a huge volcano, Mount Vesuvius, made a loud 'BOOM' and started puffing out smoke and ash. I saw that people were scared and needed help. I sailed my ships as close as I could to rescue them. I lived to be about 56 years old. People remember me today because I was always curious and wanted to help others. My big book helped people learn about our amazing world for thousands of years.