Carl Sagan discusses the Library of Alexandria

The late astrophysicist, Carl Sagan, talks about the Great Library of Alexandria and its descruction by a rabid christian mob. Discusses the murder of the philosopher, Hypatia.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Hypatia
• Greek
• Alexandria
• Library
• Philosopher
• Sagan
• learning
• murder
• monks
• books
• Cyril
• Egypt
• christian

[alien8ted]

At last! They're making a movie about Hypatia, the great woman philosopher who was flayed alive and burned by a xian mob, the movie's called 'Agora' and stars Rachel Weiss as Hypatia. Looks like the makers aren't shy about depicting violent xian mobs smashing up Alexandria, beating and killing people and burning down houses and destroying the great library.

Trailer here:

watch?v=5IuNqdE95LE

[UserNameForYeeTube]

@peymaania

At what point have I claimed that "Europe comprises the entire human civilization"? Talk about a strawman.

I find your comment about the moral and financial bankruptcy of "the West" amusing. There is no "West" as a unified entity, eg. Australia, Japan and South Korea are in the "East" but are modern countries. Financial crises are a part of the fluctuations of deregulated markets, just like economic booms are. What is the "moral bankruptcy" of the "West" of which you speak?

[zacharymullin]

@UserNameForYeeTube western countries=developed nations. Islamic lands=once westernized but then religious assholes took power, much like tea party in USA.

[pixusbubblejet]

Don't forget the Muslim destruction of the Nalanda Central Library & University Complex in India.. The Nalanda University Library was in three 9-story buildings. The largest university of the ancient world. The Muslims massacred & beheaded all the students and teachers, and burned all the books. It took 3 months to burn all the books.

[WheelSlip8]

@peymaania

Good comment although I don't believe it was intentional..

[peymaania]

@UserNameForYeeTube I hate to point this out, but Europe does not comprise the entire Human Civilization. It is only a small part of Human history, but one that has been prominent for the past 300 years, but as we all can see the West is both Morally and FInancially Bankrupt these days. Morality does not come from Religion by the way, it should be inherent to human interactions. The Ancient Greek Ideals included morals and ethics, and that Civilization was pre-Christian.

[eliopoulosgiannis]

@peymaania I agree with you!

[peymaania]

@UserNameForYeeTube Actually much of Greek and later Classical Roman Learning was based on Babylonian, Egyptian, and Phonecian Precedents. This is never acknowledged in Western Learning. Much of what was in the Library of Alexandria would have been Ancient History. Don't forget that by the Time the City of Alexandria was initiated by Alexander, Egypt already had more than 3,000 years of recorded history behind her.

[UserNameForYeeTube]

@peymaania I believe it's simply because he couldn't discuss *everything* in history concerning science (Babylonian/Mesopotamian, Chinese, Indian etc.). The dark ages of Europe also contrast starkly against the Antiquity (and the Renaissance) which makes it easy to contrast openmindedness and tolerance against intolerance and narrowmindedness.

[peymaania]

I wonder why Carl Sagan did not acknowledge the major contributions made to Science in the Islamic lands from

the 7th to the 12th centuries? 1000 years of darkness, perhaps in Western Europe, but that's not the whole world.