Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Science vs religion...Hypatia of Alexandria [science] lost

Hypatia of Alexandria

Rachel Weisz as Hypatia

Agora, a film by Alejandro Amenábar and staring Rachel Weisz as Hypatia, is an historical drama about Hypatia of Alexandria around 390 AD in Alexandria Egypt and her losing battle with early Christianity. It will be released in October.

Hypatia of Alexandria

Agora

by

Alejandro Amenábar

2009


at

5 comments:

  1. AnonymousAugust 20, 2009 at 7:29 PM

    A recommended book:

    Publication Data: Hypatia of Alexandria: Mathematician and Martyr, by Michael A. B. Deakin. Prometheus Books, 2007. Hardcover, 231 pages, $28.00. ISBN: 9781591025207.

    http://www.maa.org/reviews/hypatiadeakin.html

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  2. MercuryAugust 20, 2009 at 7:54 PM

    The reviewer wrote...

    "In the introduction to this book, Michael Deakin expresses surprise that there have been so few full-length treatments of the life and work of Hypatia, and that, in particular, most such accounts have had very little to say about her mathematics."

    Maybe things will change as they have with Giordano Bruno.

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  3. AnonymousAugust 21, 2009 at 6:40 AM

    As with Bruno, missing historical records have made it hard to always know fact from fiction.

    Plus both Bruno and Hypatia have been used by various groups to further their agendas, muddying th waters of historical truth as usual.

    I first became familiar with Hypatia from Carl Sagan's Cosmos series, but even that had its biases and flaws. I wonder how much better the film will be?

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  4. MercuryAugust 21, 2009 at 6:42 AM

    I have read three reviews and not all have been favorable...a modern day "sword and sandal" film. But then, what do critics know.

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  5. MercuryAugust 21, 2009 at 6:44 AM

    Giordano Bruno--visionary?...a new book
    http://philosophyofscienceportal.blogspot.com/2008/09/giordano-bruno-visionarya-new-book.html

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