A.E. Taylor describes Cornford's book as "excellent piece of work, which will be found indispensable by serious students of Plato... Of course the great interest of any new commentary on the "Timaeus" must be in its handling of the metaphysical, astronomical and biological matter of the dialogue and Mr. Cornford's services in connection with all these topics are eminent." First published in 1937, the book is still considered '"...one of the masterpieces of classical scholarship...Contemporary work on the Timaeus will inevitably take Plato's Cosmology as its starting point" - Charles H Kahn, University of Pennsylvania.