5.17.2004

Library of Alexandria found?

If there hadn't been the huge fire that destroyed everything back in ancient times, this would probably be the biggest archeological find EVER:
"It is perhaps the oldest university in the world."

It was at the library that Archimedes invented the screw-shaped water pump that is still in use today. At Alexandria Eratosthenes measured the diameter of the Earth, and Euclid discovered the rules of geometry. Ptolemy wrote the Almagest at Alexandria. It was the most influential scientific book about the nature of the Universe for 1,500 years.

The library was later destroyed, possibly by Julius Caesar who had it burned as part of his campaign to conquer the city.

Damn Romans. More at arstechnica.com.

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