Hellenistic Culture
- Hellenistic Culture-Greek culture blended with Egyptian, Persian, and Indian influences
- The language that was used was called Koine meaning "common" in Greek
- The common language was very important as it allowed for people throughout all of Macedonia Empire to communicate in some fashion
Alexandria
- The center of the Hellenistic culture
- located on western edge of Nile delta
- Easy for people throughout the Macedonian Empire to get to by ship
- Booming economy due to all the different customs and items that came to Alexandria
- Some similarities to Ellis Island
Alexandria's Appearance
- The rulers spent a lot of money and time into making the city of Alexandria attractive
- The two greatest attractions were the museum and library
- It was said that Alexander founded those buildings because Aristotle had given him a love for learning
- The library was the first true research library, it was used for a gifted group of scholars to do their work
Science and Technology
- Much of the scientific research that was done in Alexandria was very influential
- Until the turn of the 16th and 17th century, Alexandrian scholars provided most of the scientific information to the west
Astronomy
- The museum contained a small observatory where astronomers could study the stars and planets
- Astronomers named Aristarchus made two very important conclusions
- that the sun was bigger than Greece stating it was 300 times bigger than the earth (actually it is 1.3 million times bigger)
- The planets revolve around the sun. Unfortunately, no one supported this theory and another philosopher stated that earth was the center of the universe. This theory was supported for the next 14 centuries.
Math and Physics
- Euclid-was well known mathematician, also wrote a book. Known for writing proofs
- Archimedes-came up with the value of pi and also explained the law of the lever. He created a pulley to pull heavy objects as well.
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