The Burned Knowledge of Alexandria's Library

Channel: Luke Caverns

Duration: 36:14

The Big Picture

The Library of Alexandria might have been one of the best things since sliced bread (though Egyptians probably didn't slice bread, but you get the drift). It was basically the Wikipedia of the ancient world but with scrolls and a lot more beards. The loss of its scrolls possibly set humanity back a thousand years or more, freezing a treasure trove of knowledge on everything from heliocentric orbits to the most accurate history of Egypt ever penned. The idea is that this library was the intellectual heartbeat of the ancient world, its destruction an unparalleled disaster—a theme painfully resonant with today's modern wearers of spectacles (both literal and metaphorical) as we muse over potentially lost secrets.

Chapter Breakdown

Highlights

Quote of the Moment

Imagine if we had that. Imagine the things that we would now know used to exist.

Controversial Takes

Is It Clickbait?

Clickbait verdict: Not clickbait — Not clickbait

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