A short history of nearly everything classical. Foundations of the modern world were laid in Alexandria of Egypt at the turn of the 1st millennium. In this readable narrative, Pollard & Reid bring one of history's most fascinating cities to life, creating a treasure trove of our intellectual & cultural origins. Famous for its lighthouse, its library--the greatest in antiquity--& its fertile intellectual & spiritual life--it was here that Christianity & Islam came to prominence as world religions--Alexandria now takes its place alongside Athens & Rome as a titan of the ancient world. Sparkling with insights on science, philosophy, culture & invention, this is an eye-opening delight.
Preface
Introduction
Flour & Sand
Stealing a god
Egypt reborn
The legacy of Aristotle
City of the mind
Greek pharaohs
The music of the spheres
The little O
The "Eureka" factor
A Greek tragedy
The last pharaoh
The clockwork city
Urbi et orbi
Dawn of the iconoclasts
Into the soft machine
The ascendancy of faith
The end of reason
Hypatia
The shipwreck of time
Epilogue: A distant shore
Map
Chronology
Appendix
Acknowledgments
Select Bibliography
Index