The Great library

[sharlin]

My knowledge of ancient history is limited but I do have to wonder, how ever improbable it is, how much would have changed if a place like the Great Library of Alexandria had not been destroyed? Would it as a center of learning, education and culture help prevent europe slipping into the dark ages if its knowledge had been preserved? Some of the theories there about a circular earth, that the planets orbited the sun and so forth took centuries to be re-discovered and its loss, I feel set us back a long time in terms of scientific development.

Could that loss of knowledge have been prevented if thanks to ASB intervention the library is not burned or destroyed out of ignorance or natural disaster?

 

[Deleted member 1487]

My knowledge of ancient history is limited but I do have to wonder, how ever improbable it is, how much would have changed if a place like the Great Library of Alexandria had not been destroyed? Would it as a center of learning, education and culture help prevent europe slipping into the dark ages if its knowledge had been preserved? Some of the theories there about a circular earth, that the planets orbited the sun and so forth took centuries to be re-discovered and its loss, I feel set us back a long time in terms of scientific development.

Could that loss of knowledge have been prevented if thanks to ASB intervention the library is not burned or destroyed out of ignorance or natural disaster?

It couldn't hurt. Also it was burned repeatedly over the ages, not to mention the library of Baghdad.

 

[Alex Richards]

Also, nobody actually believed the earth was flat during the dark and middle ages (at least nobody who was actually educated enough to write/have written such views down, which means nobody important enough to matter). They just believed that the equater was a wall of impassable heat that prevented anyone from accessing the other side of the globe, and so considered it pointless to show anything more than the top bit they lived on in maps.

 

[Anaxagoras]

The collapse of classical civilization and the onset of the Dark Ages (and yes, they were pretty Dark) was due to much deeper and more fundamental causes than a lack of knowledge. Even if the Library of Alexandria has remained completely intact, I do not know how much of an improvement we would see in the medieval world. Whenever Europe did begin to experience something along the lines of the Renaissance and Scientific Revolution, it would be sped along more quickly.

In our time, we would certainly have much greater knowledge of ancient history. To paraphrase Carl Sagan, what questions about the history of the ancient world could be answer if we had a borrower's card to the Library of Alexandria?

 

[Fox Eating Bamboo]

If the knowledge contained in the Great Library does spur science onward in some way or another, it'd be in the Islamic world, not Medieval Europe. Its main effect would probably be increased Islamic interest in classical civilization. OTL, Islamic scientists and Renaissance men were very interested in the classics, but often considered certain branches of thought (like law) a bit anathema because they conflicted with Islam. Access to a large depository of Hellenic art (literature, history, theatre) could inspire more Islamic art.

Europe would still undergo the Dark Ages because of things like the migrations and collapse of social infrastructure. Just shift your focus a bit to the east, but not too east (stay vaugely 'mid-') and you might find something interesting.

 

[Mikestone8]

The collapse of classical civilization and the onset of the Dark Ages (and yes, they were pretty Dark) was due to much deeper and more fundamental causes than a lack of knowledge. Even if the Library of Alexandria has remained completely intact, I do not know how much of an improvement we would see in the medieval world.

I've even heard it argued that the Library was never "destroyed" at all in the usual sense, but just gradually declined.

Most writings in those days were on papyrus, which is highly perishable. So they had to be continually recopied in order to preserve them. Any lengthy period too disordered for this work to continue, and within a few years that's much of the library gone.

Parchment is more durable, but also far more expensive and apt to get re-used, so that much earllier material would get erased and copied over. So the Library's original contents could be gradually lost even if no one ever burned down the building

 

[Clandango]

The contents of the Library would have faced some destruction at other points. There were pagans, Christians, Muslims, differeing sects, armies, fires, moisture, time itself.... It would have been difficult for it to all remain intact, though it might have been possible for some tombs and caves to hold onto them, though it would be unlikely to do much good to anyone. Maybe it could continue to survive as an organization, for the writings of Africa and the Orient by Imans or Bishops, but there would be just as great a chance that it would all by shipped to Byzantine, Cairo, Damascus, Baghdad, whichever power was in control.

 

[Blackfox5]

The Great Library at Alexandria is famous because it's supposedly been destroyed three times. Julius Caesar destroyed it. Then the Christians destroyed it. Then the Muslims destroyed it. Who gets the blame all depends on the prejudice of the person. The best evidence was that it accidentally burned during Caesar's time in Alexandria.

If it miraculously survived, then obviously it means the world has copies of all sorts of Greek works now lost. Does that mean anything in terms of scientific development? Probably not. The Greeks were wrong on lots of things. The Muslims' interest in Greek philosophy died out quite early. And the Latin West was limited in how much it could learn until the study of Greek blossomed during the Renaissance, and by that time the West ws beginning to surpass the knowledge of the ancient Greeks anyway.

However, the cultural treasures would be vast. We'd know a lot more about history, have a lot more Greek plays, and all sorts of interesting myths. World culture would be much richer, but I don't think it would have much scientific impact.

 

[Alex Richards]

Yeah, we'd have the other 8 books of Homers series not just the Illiad and Odessy for example.

 

[Ghost 88]

Yeah, we'd have the other 8 books of Homers series not just the Illiad and Odessy for example.

Oh God no! I would have gone insane hving to read 8 more over long poems. Point of fact I did struggle with them as I am a slow reader, and sometimes lose focus so that I misread what is on the page. Strangely, I did not have this problem with Gone with the Wind.

 

[Grey Wolf]

I was wondering similar things about that huge collection of books and papers that was burnt in London in the 17th century, but my memory has failed on the details and Google is not helping, far too many advertising sites come top when you look for books

Best Regards
Grey Wolf