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The Last Word


Bazza

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In 529 The Platonic Academy in Athens was official closed by Emperor Justinian. This institution was originally founded by Plato and was closed in 88-89 BC IIRC when the Romans sacked Athens, thus the dominance of Rome upon the world and the Roman Empire was soon to come to pass. Plato was still influential during this era which we call Middle Platonism. The Academy was refunded around 410 AD by Neoplatonists before being closed down officially in 529. This in a real sense is the sunsetting of the Classical Greco-Roman era. 

 

The philosophical and science tradition started with Pythagoras, well the doors of the schools were locked for the final time (the book cover below really captures this looming sunset of the classical school).

 

Also in 529 (quoting Wikipedia as it is easiest: "The Benedictine Order is established at Monte Cassino near Naples by Benedict of Nursia, who founds a monastery and formulates for his monks strict rules in the "Regula Benedicti". Comment: this is the first monastery of the "Benedictine Order (not officially an order until centuries later), however at Monte Cassino is the source of what followed. 

So as the classical schools were closed a new school was born, that is the schools of learning found in the monastery. The Rule of Benedict was the de-facto constitution for many monastic orders that followed -- i.e. St Benedict has been called the "Father of Western monasticism". Thus 529 AD witnessed two key events, the passing of the torch of learning from the Schools of Greece to the Schools of Monks. It would take until the Middle Ages before the Classical Wisdom (mainly Aristotle) was "injected" back into Christendom via the Arabs.  

Thus 529 is a demarcation between two very different eras. It occurs to me that we are in another such transition from one era to another. One only has to look at Alexandria during the time of Hypatia, when Paganism lost is political power and ascendency to Christianity, and can see the modern world likewise shifting from the Christian worldview to another. 

 

Still really love this cover, it is huge so I'm putting it in spoiler-tags 

 

 

 

rosan_cover.jpg

 

 

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If you want more laughs, look up how many different categories of prime number there are. E.g., 37 is the fifth lucky prime, first irregular prime, third unique prime, and several other labels that mean certain things to number theory folks that seem incongruous to others.

 

That's hardly unique to math, of course. Astronomers do the same kind of thing. For years my wife found it hilarious that I went to Cool Stars conferences.

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