The Shores of Wisdom

In "The Shores of Wisdom", Derek Adie Flower gives a delightful story of the rise and fall of the Ancient Library of Alexandria - the worlds power of knowledge and culture twenty-three centuries ago. Flower tells the story with a unique style, giving us glimpses of the forces which made the place prosper with great philosophers and scientists (Euclid, Archimedes, Eratosthenes...) and the causes of decline when politics and religion became in conflict with rationality. Flower displays his enthusiasm for the city by the hope for the future in the new project of building modern Bibliotheca Alexandria. As a graduate of the University of Alexandria in modern time, I, too, hope that the future will reach the greatness of the past, but with a renaissance in modern science and knowledge. The book is indeed an enjoyable piece to read.

Prof. Ahmed H. Zewail
1998 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Egypt