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questionit
New Member
21 Posts |
 Posted - 05/04/2005 : 20:41:32
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 A friend lent me this book because he knows my interest in promoting science over superstition. I'm not ordinarily interested in historical novels, but I gave it a shot, and was impressed way way beyond my expectations.
The book mostly takes place in the great library of Alexandria, right around the time when Christianity was made the state religion and anything opposing a religious worldview was being silenced. Its based on a trye story of a woman scientist named Hypatia, and how she promoted reason over blind faith, how religious leaders came to see her as a threat, and how she was eventually assassinated.
The book is unusually well written, and firmly sides with Hypatia and the cause of scientific inqiry. The great library (which was destroyed by religious fanatics) is depicted as a fascnating place. Again, I'm not usually into historical books but this is a read I must recommend to anyone interested in the struggle to advance science, the fight against theocracy, and really anyone interested in a little-known champion of progress whose murder seems to have set off the dark ages. It also has some extremely entertaining characters. A very very good book, and absolutely one to add to our list of "books to support." I enjoyed it enough to order my own copy.
[Edited to add book link - Dave W.]
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Espritch
Skeptic Friend
USA
284 Posts |
Posted - 12/31/2005 : 21:08:23 [Permalink]
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In Euclid`s Window, Leonard Mlodinow briefly discusses Hypathia of Alexandria. The following is a passage concerning her rather grisly demise at the behest of Cyril, the Archbishop of Alexandria:
quote:
Several hundred of Cyril`s stooges, Christian monks from a desert monastery, swooped upon her, beat her, and dragged her to a church. Inside the church, they stripped her naked and peeled away her flesh with either sharpened tiles or broken bits of pottery. Afterward, they ripped apart her limbs and burned her remains. According to one account, parts of her body were scattered all over the city.
This same Cyril was later cannonized by the Catholic Church. Apparently in those days, having a woman brutally murdered was not considered a serious impediment to Sainthood. |
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Starman
SFN Regular
Sweden
1613 Posts |
Posted - 01/01/2006 : 01:16:47 [Permalink]
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| Impediment? It was most likely a merit. |
"Any religion that makes a form of torture into an icon that they worship seems to me a pretty sick sort of religion quite honestly"
-- Terry Jones |
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