Original abstract painting, based on the format of the 'Black Penguin Classics' paperback books.

The painting was built up in many layers of overlapping circles and lines, given order and structure by the black and white lower section, and the grey overpainting which contains the multicoloured shapes. The appearance of the painting also ties in with the theme of the book.

"Lucretius' poem On the Nature of Things combines a scientific and philosophical treatise with some of the greatest poetry ever written. With intense moral fervour he demonstrates to humanity that in death there is nothing to fear since the soul is mortal, and the world and everything in it is governed by the mechanical laws of nature and not by gods; and that by believing this men can live in peace of mind and happiness. He bases this on the atomic theory expounded by the Greek philosopher Epicurus, and continues with an examination of sensation, sex, cosmology, meteorology, and geology, all of these subjects made more attractive by the poetry with which he illustrates them."