The Swerve : How the World Became Modern

 "The Swerve : How the World Became Modern", by Stephen Greenblatt, investigates the rediscovery and impact on our world of a Latin poem that was written 100 years before Christ. The ancient work, De rerum natura or "On the Nature of Things" by Lucretius was found in a monastery by a 15th century book hunter and secretary to various popes, Poggio the Florentine. This article from the New Yorker does a much better job than I can do of reviewing this book. Highly recommended reading. For further reading, here is a link to an epub of a translation of "On the Nature of Things".