Hypatias Feud

Download or read book Hypatia's Feud written by Nicholas Fourikis and published by Outskirts Press. This book was released on 2011-03-31 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hypatia lived and died as humanist among religious zealots 1 – E-book details Hypatia's Feud by Nicholas Fourikis (Mar 28, 2011) · $6.48 Kindle Purchase · Auto-delivered wirelessly · $17.96 Paperback 2 – Book description Publication Date: March 28, 2011 Hypatia lived and died as a humanist among religious zealots Hypatia of Alexandria researches the heavens and explores the everlasting questions of our existence when the Church preaches there is no need to probe into the nature of things. She imparts new knowledge to the world when the churchmen counsel women to seek knowledge from their husbands. She tutors Jews, Christians, and Pagans while men of different religions wage wars. Her feud with the Church reaches a climax during a debate with the Patriarch of Alexandria, who believes the Pagan scrolls of the Royal Alexandrian Library prevent the populace from accepting Christianity. “If we torch the Pagan scrolls of the library,” the patriarch proclaims during the debate, “we would uproot the weeds of confusion in God’s New Jerusalem.” “In the Elysian Fields,” Hypatia retorts, “myriad flowers bloom and Truth, like the flowers, is registered in the scrolls of the library. If the half a million nonChristian scrolls are torched, mankind, without a memory, will descend into darkness.” Hypatia’s feud at the dawn of the fifth century CE is our feud too, because her foes under different names are ever-present. Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars An important and timely book April 26, 2011 By Sydney librarian Format:Paperback Hypatia is held in high esteem by librarians for her efforts to try and save the ancient scrolls in the library of Alenadria. But that is only part of the story. In this new book, the story of her feud with Cyril, the Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, and of her death, is told through the eyes of Aristos, a young Alexandrian. We are transported back to ancient Alexandria with all its cosmopolitan bustle, to hear the debates and arguments and to watch the tragedy unfold. This is an important and timely book and highly recommended to all librarians and those who value questions over dogma. 5.0 out of 5 stars Hypatia April 16, 2011 By diane Format:Kindle Edition Hypatia comes alive under the penmanship of great writer. The story of Hypatia's remarkable life, and excruciatingly dreadful death, is told through the eyes of young Greek student and philosopher, Aristos, as he learns the value of historic records and the tragedy of their loss to humanity. Author, Dr Nicholas Fourikis, blends history with Aristos's romance as he weaves Hypatia's story through the experiences of Aristos and his fellow students during times of gigantic human struggles in Greece. Aristos comes to realise, `... the tides of history determine the course of lives.' And, `... history shapes the mind of men'. While more than half a million valuable scrolls are destroyed together with the life and work of one of the world's greatest woman writers, mathematician, philosopher and historian in the fight between ideology, belief systems and power. This book spoon-feeds the reader with an understanding of history while explaining in simple, but lyrical terms, how ideological and religious beliefs bring inevitable conflict as mankind struggles for understanding. Precious books bring history alive in a way that affects the future - and this book is in that category. A philosophical book which expounds the philosophy of philosophers 5.0 out of 5 stars closer to Hypatia April 22, 2011 By Saibei Zhao Format:Kindle Edition From a student's eye, Dr Fourikis is tall, and handsome. His invited talk about the application of millimeter waves was fun, easy to understand, and full of humors. This was in Pasadena, California, 1992, the first time we met. It was a spectroscopy conference, and he was giving the talk. It was impressive how advanced his research was. From then, we keep in touch for years, and we discuss so many things. I was surprised when he told me that he wanted to write story about immigrants. As being scientists, we try to make laws and methods as simple as possible, while novelists are trying to make things as complicate as possible. We try to compress 10 sentences to 1 sentence if we can, while the novelists are trying to stretch 1 sentence to 10 sentences if they can. I thought scientists and novelists have different brain structure. But it proved that for some people, they can do both. First, Dr Fourikis brought “Hollywood, Amarroo” to us. It was about social justice to Australian Aborigines. Then away from Australia, he is coming back with “Hypatia's feud”. “Hypatia's feud” is well written and fun to read. Dr Fourikis brings her so close, so vivid to us. Hypatia was the first notable woman mathematician, astronomer, and geographer. Why do we say so? We know gold is heavier than silver; sea water is heavier than fresh water for the same volume. It is easy to judge for the solid material, harder for the liquid. Hypatia invented hydrometer which allows people to measure density of liquid with respect to water. While it has been problem for people to locate themselves in ocean, Hypatia invented the chart of celestial bodies. She edited Euclid's Elements and Ptolemy's Almagest; she made commentary for other books. Keep this in mind, one has to know as much as the writers before she/he could write the commentary/editing. Then, what is the purpose to bring her back? First, it is curiosity. Today, in every physics lab, chemistry lab, when one uses a hydrometer, one may ask, who invented this? Who was Hypatia? What she has done? Why she was murdered? Could this be prevented? Secondly, learning from history, we understand any achievement we made today has a history. As Newton once said: I am standing on the giants' shoulder. Third, education is the key. Read the book and one will find all. Dr Fourikis quote Elie Wiesel, recipient of 1986 Nobel Prize for Peace in his book “Hollywood, Amarroo”, here it is: The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference. Wish Dr Fourikis bring us more of his works. Biography Nicholas Fourikis, MSc PhD Nicholas was the recipient of a classical Greek education in Cairo, and spent school holidays either in Alexandria, the birthplace of Hypatia or in Greece. After the family migrated to Australia he pursued undergraduate studies at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, and postgraduate studies at Macquarie and New South Wales universities. During a distinguished career in Radio Astronomy he spent a year at the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory, discovered five interstellar molecules in collaboration with Australian, American and Japanese spectroscopists and authored two university textbooks on Radio Astronomy and advanced Radars. A complete list of his research papers, theses, and books is in his website: www.nicholasfourikis.com The life and times of Hypatia, a fellow astronomer and scientist, fascinated Nicholas over a long time. More importantly Hypatia of Alexandria was the conduit of the ancient Greek wisdom to the modern world, the quintessential philosopher-hero who championed Humanism and demonstrated that women could make significant contributions in Astronomy, Philosophy and Mathematics. Hypatia's feud with religious zealots at the dawn of the 5th century CE is our feud too because her foes under different names are ever present. In his other literary novel, "Hollywood Amarroo - Two lovers shine in Australia's Deep North," he chronicled the lives of two young lovers who ignored the prejudices of the sixties to defend an Aboriginal mother accused of manslaughter. Amarroo a prosperous town in the heart of Queensland borders a reserve the locals euphemistically call Hollywood where two hundred Aborigines live in lamentable poverty. While the story Nicholas chronicled took place during the sixties the Aborigines still live in lamentable poverty to this day.