CHAPTER III. 



PROGRESS IN ANTIQUITY. 



THE first group of scientific facts to be recorded refers to 

 the Greeks after Aristotle's time, and will include only those 

 of primary importance. The briefest outline is imposed upon 

 us by the limits of our sketch. 



After the fall of Athens from political greatness, Alexan- 

 dria, under the strong rule of the Ptolemies (323-43 B.C.), 

 became the centre of learning, and Greek philosophers 

 gathered there from all parts to enjoy the generous and 

 enlightened protection of those princes. For two hundred 

 years after the disappearance of their dynasty, the Alexandrian 

 Museum,* which they had erected, remained the seat of 

 science, so that the school of Alexandria flourished for more 

 than five hundred years as a scientific centre. No city was 

 ever so exclusively the seat of Intellect as the Egyptian 

 capital : for pure philosophy continued to be taught there 

 until 415 A.D. for two centuries, that is, after science had 

 come to be considered of secondary importance. Nor did 

 its influence stop when it ceased to be the abode of learned 

 men : its teachings remained for another thousand years the 

 paramount principles of intellectual growth in the world 

 hence historians justly mention Alexandria as the city which 

 has exercised the most lengthy and beneficial influence over 

 civilisation. 



We have already seen that knowledge, before Aristotle's 

 time, was assuming a scientific aspect ; as we approach his 



* This Museum was a group of palatial buildings four or five times as 

 extensive as Buckingham Palace. 



C 2 



