From the Wi Learning Hub newsletter: something for the book lovers amongst us. (A bit of reading! See what I did there?
Over two thousand years ago, on the bustling shores of Egypt’s Mediterranean coastline, the Library of Alexandria rose to prominence as one of the greatest centres of learning in the ancient world. Its ambition was immense: to gather the knowledge of every culture under one roof. Ships entering the city’s harbour were required to surrender any books or manuscripts they carried. These were copied by scribes before the originals were returned, ensuring that Persian mathematics, Egyptian medicine, Greek philosophy, and Indian astronomy could all be found side by side on the same shelves.
What made the Library truly bold was not simply the scale of its collection, but what happened when people came together to use it. Within its halls, scholars met, debated, and exchanged ideas across languages and traditions. The results shaped history: Euclid refined the principles of geometry, Eratosthenes calculated the Earth’s circumference with astonishing accuracy, and Hipparchus mapped the heavens.
The legacy of Alexandria reminds us that learning flourishes when knowledge is shared and explored.
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