De Natura Fossilium is a scientific text written by Georg Bauer also known as Georgius Agricola, first published in 1546. The book represents the first scientific attempt to categorize minerals, rocks and sediments since the publication of Pliny's Natural History. This text along with Agricola's other works including De Re Metallica compose the earliest comprehensive "scientific" approach to mineralogy, mining, and geological science.[1]
Agricola, Georgius (2004). De natura fossilium (Textbook of mineralogy). Translated from the first Latin edition of 1546 by Mark Chance Bandy and Jean A. Bandy. Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications. ISBN9780486495910.
Rudwick, Martin J. S. (2008). The Meaning of Fossils: Episodes in the History of Palaeontology. University of Chicago Press. p. 23. ISBN9780226148984.