Definition:Alexandrian School

Definition

The Alexandrian School was active in the city of Alexandria for the approximate millennium leading up to the city's destruction in $641$ C.E.

It stood as the cultural hub of the Greek sphere of influence.

The Alexandrian Musaeum stood at the centre of this hub, and has been argued as being the archetypal forerunner of the modern University.

It had a library which, at its peak, is believed to have contained over $700 \, 000$ volumes.

After the fall of Alexandria, most of its scholars migrated to Constantinople, preserving the ancient Greek mathematical learning, where it remained for some $800$ more years until the Renaissance.

Notable members

• Euclid
• Diophantus
• Theon of Alexandria
• Hypatia of Alexandria

Sources

• 1980: David M. Burton: Elementary Number Theory (revised ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $1$: Some Preliminary Considerations: $1.3$ Early Number Theory