From: Britannica
The Progress of Science in the Hellenistic Age Alexander died in 323 bc. The spread of Greek learning that resulted from his conquests, however, laid the foundation for much of the cultural progress of the Hellenistic Age. Alexandria, the city founded by Alexander at the mouth of the Nile River in Egypt, became the intellectual capital of the world and a center of Greek scholarship. Its famous library, founded by Ptolemy I, was said to have contained 700,000 rolls of papyrus manuscripts. In the 5th century BC, with the rise of Athens as a wealthy democratic state, the center of Greek culture passed to the peninsula. Here the Greeks reached the peak of their extraordinary creative energy. This was the great period of Greek literature, architecture, and sculpture, a period that reached its culmination in the age of Pericles. Philosophers now turned their thoughts from the study of matter to the study of humankind. Toward the end of the century Socrates ushered in what is considered to be the most brilliant period of Greek philosophy, passing on his wisdom to his pupil Plato. Plato in turn handed it on to “the master of those who know,” the great Aristotle.
In literature and art the Hellenistic Age was imitative, looking to the masterpieces of earlier days for inspiration. In science, however, much brilliant and original work was done. Archimedes put mechanics on a sound footing, and Euclid established geometry as a science. Eratosthenes made maps and calculated Earth’s circumference.
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