0288 BC-12-01 00:00:00
EnLaunched in 288 BC by Ptolemy I (Soter) under the guidance of Demetrius of Phaleron, the temple to the muses, or Mouseion (in greek), or museum (in latin) was part academy, part research center, and part library. The great thinkers of the age, scientists, mathematicians, poets from all civilizations came to study and exchange ideas. Aristarchus was the first person to state that the earth revolves around the sun, a full 1800 years before Copernicus; Eratosthenes proved that the earth was spherical and calculated its circumference with amazing accuracy, 1700 years before Columbus sailed on his epic voyage Hipparchus established the first atlas of the stars and calculated the length of the solar year accurately to within 6.5 minutes Callimachus the poet described the texts in the library organized by subject and author, becoming the father of library science, Euclid wrote his elements of geometry, the basic text studied in schools all over the world even now Herophylus identified the brain as the controlling organ of the body and launched a new era of medicine Manetho chronicled the pharaohs and organized our history into the dynasties we use to this day Zenodotus and the grammarians established the basics of literary scholarship with their meticulous definition of the Homerian text for the Iliad and the Odyssey
117000