Imagine finding an ancient/medieval text discussing evolution by natural selection, the indivisible nature of the atom, heliocentricity, and the existence of a unified theory of physics, all written by an author who lived in the 1st century BCE. Such was the discovery of 15th century manuscript collector Poggio Bracciolini, who discovered a surviving copy of De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things [1]) in a Benedictine monastery. The lost work of Lucretius inspired many Enlightenment thinkers and led people to challenge the orthodoxies of that time.
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Imagine finding an ancient/medieval text discussing evolution by natural selection, the indivisible nature of the atom, heliocentricity, and the existence of a unified theory of physics, all written by an author who lived in the 1st century BCE. Such was the discovery of 15th century manuscript collector Poggio Bracciolini, who discovered a surviving copy of De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things [1]) in a Benedictine monastery. The lost work of Lucretius inspired many Enlightenment thinkers and led people to challenge the orthodoxies of that time.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_rerum_natura