03 APR 2011 by ideonexus
Alexandria's Promise of a Brilliant Scientific Civilization
;Only once before in our history was there the promise of a brilliant scientific civilization. Beneficiary of the Ionian Awakening, it had its citadel at the Library of Alexandria, where 2,000 years ago the best minds of antiquity established the foundations for the systematic study of mathematics, physics, biology, astronomy, literature, geography and medicine. We build on those foundations still. The Library was constructed and supported by the Ptolemys, the Greek kings who inherited the Eg...Carl Sagan recounts the destruction of science and enlightenment in ancient Alexandria at the hands of religious zealotry.