Dr Jane Lomax Smith launching the book
Attendees of the book launch at the Barr-Smith Library 
Drs Jane Lomax-Smith & Nicholas Fourikis
Nicholas signing a book
Attendees of the book launch
Nicholas responding to Dr Jane Lomax-Smith Tuesday, September 6, 2011
"Hypatia's Feud" - Book launch photos
Dr Jane Lomax Smith launching the bookAttendees of the book launch at the Barr-Smith Library Drs Jane Lomax-Smith & Nicholas FourikisNicholas signing a bookAttendees of the book launch Nicholas responding to Dr Jane Lomax-Smith 
Thursday, August 4, 2011
My book launch speech
“Hypatia’s Feud”
Book Launch Speech
3rd August 2011
Barr-Smith Library, Adelaide University
Hello everyone.
I’m elated to see so many friends and colleagues. We should have these cultural evenings more often.
Most of you would know that Hypatia was an ardent supporter of Libraries because Libraries are stepping stones to new knowledge. I’m therefore elated that we are celebrating Hypatia’s book in a University Library. In that regard I would like to thank Ray Choate, and Paul Wilkins who availed the Barr-Smith Library for such a cultural event.
I decided to chronicle the life and times of Hypatia for many reasons. According to her contemporaries she had the mind of Plato and the figure of Aphrodite. I don’t disagree with that description but Hypatia of Alexandria was much more interesting. At 400 AD, for instance she led the Alexandrian groups of philosophers and astronomers. Hypatia’s career path, as you can understand, wasn’t what was expected of a lady.
More importantly however she was the philosopher humanist who clashed with monks possessed by religious fervor. It was a monumental feud between reason and dogma that unfolded in Roman Alexandria, the Pearl of the Mediterranean.
Alexandria deserved that accolade for three reasons. The Pharos, the most famous lighthouse of Antiquity and one of the seven wonders of the ancient world symbolized the commercial power of the city. Young men, bursting with talent and ambition came to Alexandria to join either the School of Alexandria, or the Royal Alexandrian Library. St Mark you’d recall founded the School of Alexandrian, the first Christian Institution of the Empire and the Ptolemies founded the famous Royal Alexandrian Library.
“The Royal Library of Alexandria,” wrote Ferdinand Gregorovius, “diffused a splendor over the civilized world which lasted longer than any other university, whether Paris, Bologna, or Padua.”
And the late Professor Carl Sagan, was more specific.
“In the Alexandrian Library,” he told 600 million television viewers, “lived a community of scientists who discovered the sciences of physics, linguistics, medicine, astronomy, geography, philosophy, mathematics, biology, and geology. In that Library studies reached adulthood. Here genius flourished. Here in the Library of Alexandria were the first serious attempts to understand the world.”
After the Romans succeeded the Ptolemies, research in the Library declined because the Romans did not support research as much as the Ptolemies. Moreover Alexandria witnessed endless tit for tat clashes between Pagans, Christians, and Jews because the Alexandrians took religion seriously.
That is the mileu in which Hypatia’s Feud, a fictional work, unfolds.
Theon the last Librarian of the Royal Alexandrian Library tutors his daughter Hypatia in astronomy, mathematics and philosophy. Her eloquence, modesty, and beauty, combined with her remarkable intellectual gifts, attract a large number of pupils and by 400AD she leads the Alexandrian group of philosophers and the Hipparchus group of astronomers.
Hypatia researches the heavens and explores the everlasting questions of our existence when the Church preaches there is no need to probe into the nature of things.
She imparts new knowledge to the world when the churchmen counsel women to seek knowledge from their husbands.
She tutors Jews, Christians and Pagans while men of different religions wage wars.
Her dazzling career as researcher, teacher and humanist convinces every conservative in the Empire that women are not only intellectually equal to men but can also lead philosophers and astronomers.
Her feud with the Church reaches a climax during a debate with the Patriarch of Alexandria who believes the half a million pagan scrolls of the Royal Alexandrian Library prevent the populace from accepting Christianity.
“If we torch the pagan scrolls of the Library,” the Patriarch proclaims during the debate, “we would uproot the weeds of confusion in God’s New Jerusalem.”
“In the Elysian Fields,” Hypatia retorts, “myriad
flowers bloom and Truth, like the flowers, is registered in the
scrolls of the library.”
This is how the debate started and Kate Hawtin a fellow writer and poet will elaborate on how Hypatia defended the half a million scrolls of the Alexandrian Library.
Pls welcome Kate to the podium.
“At the dawn of history,” my fellow Alexandrians, “the poets unveiled that Zeus ruled the
heavens, Poseidon the sea, and Hades the underworld. The gods were
powerful, looked like us, and shared all our foibles. In the Homeric
poems, you’ll recall, the squabbling gods backed their favorite mortals.
Besides, the gods with a keen eye for beauty seduced queens and
princesses — they even fathered demigods.
“The mortals continued to appease the gods by sacrifices a long
time after the Homeric times, but Aesop struck a dissonant note to our
cozy relationship with the gods.
“A wealthy Athenian, he wrote, was making a sea voyage with some
companions when a terrible storm blew up and their ship capsized. All
the other passengers started swimming but the Athenian kept praying
to Pallas Athena, making all kinds of promises if only she would save
him. Then one of the other shipwrecked passengers swam past him
and shouted,
“‘While you pray to Athena, start moving your arms!’
“That was, my fellow Alexandrians, the first call in history for
mortals to take charge of their lives. Not many paid heed to Aesop’s
message and the gods continued to play significant roles in the lives
of mortals until the Ionian philosophers entered the center stage of
history.
“‘If we ask an ox to draw God, the ox will draw an ox,’
Xenophanes dared to tell us, and more dissent from the prevailing
beliefs followed.
“‘We don’t need to attribute the fall of a sparrow
to the intervention of Zeus.’
“That was the light-hearted sentence the daredevils of Ionia used to
demolish the dungeons of poetic superstition where men and women
lived since the beginning of time. And in the light of day, they edited
the gods out of their daily lives.
“It matters not, my fellow Alexandrians, whether you prefer to
take charge of your lives or lead your lives according to the revelations
of a religion. In either case, the scrolls in the Royal Library will guide you along your journey. The scrolls therefore offer us the freedoms we dearly love
everyone to enjoy.”
Kate Hawtin ladies and gentlemen.
My book chronicles the life and times of Hypatia through the eyes of Aristos, a twenty two year old philosopher but the narration continues after Hypatia’s assassination through the Dark Ages up to the Dawn of the Renaissance when Reason once more prevailed.
From history we know that thousands of Christians perished during the Dark Ages because they did not adhere to the church’s dogma. Millions perished because they opposed the Fascist’s doctrine. Thousands disappeared in Gulags because they opposed the Communist ideology. And during our times we witness the carnage caused by this or that Holly War or Jihad. Lastly we all know what ethnic cleansing means.
For these and many other reasons it is always rewarding to re-visit Hypatia’s life. She was after all the quintessential philosopher-hero who not only proved that women can lead philosophy and astronomy groups but lived as a humanist in a world possessed by religious fervor.
It took me three years to write the book and during that time young women attacked me because I, a man, had no right to write a book about their hero. I wanted to tell them I had a classical education, that I spent many summers in Alexandria, I was an astronomer, and studied philosophy but didn’t, because Hypatia is now a citizen of the world. She came to this world an Alexandrian Greek but is now a citizen of the world
I hope that you will enjoy reading my book as much as I enjoyed writing it.
And thank you for coming along to celebrate Hypatia’s life.
Book Launch Speech
3rd August 2011
Barr-Smith Library, Adelaide University
Hello everyone.
I’m elated to see so many friends and colleagues. We should have these cultural evenings more often.
Most of you would know that Hypatia was an ardent supporter of Libraries because Libraries are stepping stones to new knowledge. I’m therefore elated that we are celebrating Hypatia’s book in a University Library. In that regard I would like to thank Ray Choate, and Paul Wilkins who availed the Barr-Smith Library for such a cultural event.
I decided to chronicle the life and times of Hypatia for many reasons. According to her contemporaries she had the mind of Plato and the figure of Aphrodite. I don’t disagree with that description but Hypatia of Alexandria was much more interesting. At 400 AD, for instance she led the Alexandrian groups of philosophers and astronomers. Hypatia’s career path, as you can understand, wasn’t what was expected of a lady.
More importantly however she was the philosopher humanist who clashed with monks possessed by religious fervor. It was a monumental feud between reason and dogma that unfolded in Roman Alexandria, the Pearl of the Mediterranean.
Alexandria deserved that accolade for three reasons. The Pharos, the most famous lighthouse of Antiquity and one of the seven wonders of the ancient world symbolized the commercial power of the city. Young men, bursting with talent and ambition came to Alexandria to join either the School of Alexandria, or the Royal Alexandrian Library. St Mark you’d recall founded the School of Alexandrian, the first Christian Institution of the Empire and the Ptolemies founded the famous Royal Alexandrian Library.
“The Royal Library of Alexandria,” wrote Ferdinand Gregorovius, “diffused a splendor over the civilized world which lasted longer than any other university, whether Paris, Bologna, or Padua.”
And the late Professor Carl Sagan, was more specific.
“In the Alexandrian Library,” he told 600 million television viewers, “lived a community of scientists who discovered the sciences of physics, linguistics, medicine, astronomy, geography, philosophy, mathematics, biology, and geology. In that Library studies reached adulthood. Here genius flourished. Here in the Library of Alexandria were the first serious attempts to understand the world.”
After the Romans succeeded the Ptolemies, research in the Library declined because the Romans did not support research as much as the Ptolemies. Moreover Alexandria witnessed endless tit for tat clashes between Pagans, Christians, and Jews because the Alexandrians took religion seriously.
That is the mileu in which Hypatia’s Feud, a fictional work, unfolds.
Theon the last Librarian of the Royal Alexandrian Library tutors his daughter Hypatia in astronomy, mathematics and philosophy. Her eloquence, modesty, and beauty, combined with her remarkable intellectual gifts, attract a large number of pupils and by 400AD she leads the Alexandrian group of philosophers and the Hipparchus group of astronomers.
Hypatia researches the heavens and explores the everlasting questions of our existence when the Church preaches there is no need to probe into the nature of things.
She imparts new knowledge to the world when the churchmen counsel women to seek knowledge from their husbands.
She tutors Jews, Christians and Pagans while men of different religions wage wars.
Her dazzling career as researcher, teacher and humanist convinces every conservative in the Empire that women are not only intellectually equal to men but can also lead philosophers and astronomers.
Her feud with the Church reaches a climax during a debate with the Patriarch of Alexandria who believes the half a million pagan scrolls of the Royal Alexandrian Library prevent the populace from accepting Christianity.
“If we torch the pagan scrolls of the Library,” the Patriarch proclaims during the debate, “we would uproot the weeds of confusion in God’s New Jerusalem.”
“In the Elysian Fields,” Hypatia retorts, “myriad
flowers bloom and Truth, like the flowers, is registered in the
scrolls of the library.”
This is how the debate started and Kate Hawtin a fellow writer and poet will elaborate on how Hypatia defended the half a million scrolls of the Alexandrian Library.
Pls welcome Kate to the podium.
“At the dawn of history,” my fellow Alexandrians, “the poets unveiled that Zeus ruled the
heavens, Poseidon the sea, and Hades the underworld. The gods were
powerful, looked like us, and shared all our foibles. In the Homeric
poems, you’ll recall, the squabbling gods backed their favorite mortals.
Besides, the gods with a keen eye for beauty seduced queens and
princesses — they even fathered demigods.
“The mortals continued to appease the gods by sacrifices a long
time after the Homeric times, but Aesop struck a dissonant note to our
cozy relationship with the gods.
“A wealthy Athenian, he wrote, was making a sea voyage with some
companions when a terrible storm blew up and their ship capsized. All
the other passengers started swimming but the Athenian kept praying
to Pallas Athena, making all kinds of promises if only she would save
him. Then one of the other shipwrecked passengers swam past him
and shouted,
“‘While you pray to Athena, start moving your arms!’
“That was, my fellow Alexandrians, the first call in history for
mortals to take charge of their lives. Not many paid heed to Aesop’s
message and the gods continued to play significant roles in the lives
of mortals until the Ionian philosophers entered the center stage of
history.
“‘If we ask an ox to draw God, the ox will draw an ox,’
Xenophanes dared to tell us, and more dissent from the prevailing
beliefs followed.
“‘We don’t need to attribute the fall of a sparrow
to the intervention of Zeus.’
“That was the light-hearted sentence the daredevils of Ionia used to
demolish the dungeons of poetic superstition where men and women
lived since the beginning of time. And in the light of day, they edited
the gods out of their daily lives.
“It matters not, my fellow Alexandrians, whether you prefer to
take charge of your lives or lead your lives according to the revelations
of a religion. In either case, the scrolls in the Royal Library will guide you along your journey. The scrolls therefore offer us the freedoms we dearly love
everyone to enjoy.”
Kate Hawtin ladies and gentlemen.
My book chronicles the life and times of Hypatia through the eyes of Aristos, a twenty two year old philosopher but the narration continues after Hypatia’s assassination through the Dark Ages up to the Dawn of the Renaissance when Reason once more prevailed.
From history we know that thousands of Christians perished during the Dark Ages because they did not adhere to the church’s dogma. Millions perished because they opposed the Fascist’s doctrine. Thousands disappeared in Gulags because they opposed the Communist ideology. And during our times we witness the carnage caused by this or that Holly War or Jihad. Lastly we all know what ethnic cleansing means.
For these and many other reasons it is always rewarding to re-visit Hypatia’s life. She was after all the quintessential philosopher-hero who not only proved that women can lead philosophy and astronomy groups but lived as a humanist in a world possessed by religious fervor.
It took me three years to write the book and during that time young women attacked me because I, a man, had no right to write a book about their hero. I wanted to tell them I had a classical education, that I spent many summers in Alexandria, I was an astronomer, and studied philosophy but didn’t, because Hypatia is now a citizen of the world. She came to this world an Alexandrian Greek but is now a citizen of the world
I hope that you will enjoy reading my book as much as I enjoyed writing it.
And thank you for coming along to celebrate Hypatia’s life.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
"Hypatia's Feud" - Book Launch
Ray Choate, University LibrarianInvites you and your guest to the launch by
Dr Jane Lomax- Smith
Royal Institution of Austalia
of
Hypatia's Feud
By Dr Nicholas Fourikis
Wednesday 3 August 2011 - 5.30 for 6.00 pm
Ira Raymond Exhibition Room - Barr-Smith Library
RSVP by Monday 1 August to patricia.hawke@adelaide.edu.au 8303 4064
Saturday, June 4, 2011
One fable and three quotations that define Humanism to me
1 - ‘We don’t need to attribute the fall of a sparrow to the intervention of Zeus.’
That was the light-hearted sentence the daredevils of Ionia used to
demolish the dungeons of poetic superstition where men and women
lived since the beginning of time.
2 - And Aesop corroborated this sentiment in one of his fables
‘A wealthy Athenian, he wrote, was making a sea voyage with some
companions when a terrible storm blew up and their ship capsized. All
the other passengers started swimming but the Athenian kept praying
to Pallas Athena, making all kinds of promises if only she would save
him. Then one of the other shipwrecked passengers swam past him
and shouted,
‘While you pray to Athena, start moving your arms!’
That was the first call in history for mortals to take charge of their lives.
3 - A couple of centuries later the Sophist Protagoras (490-420 BCE) declared that:
‘Man is the measure of everything.’
4 - Many centuries later Robert G Ingersoll (1833-99) articulated what it means to be a Humanist.
‘When I became convinced that the universe is natural, that all the ghosts and gods are myths, there entered into my brain, into my soul, into every drop of my blood the sense, the feeling, the joy of freedom. The walls of my prison crumbled and fell. The dungeon was flooded with light and all the bolts and bars and manacles became dust. I was no longer a servant, a serf, or a slave.
There was for me no master in all the wide world, not even in infinite space,
I was free-free to think, to express my thoughts - free to live my own ideal, free to live for myself and those I loved, free to use all my faculties all my senses, free to spread imagination’s wings, free to investigate, to guess and dream and hope, free to judge and determine for myself . . . I was free! I stood erect and fearlessly, joyously faced all worlds.’
Thank you to my benefactors I cited in this short expose.
That was the light-hearted sentence the daredevils of Ionia used to
demolish the dungeons of poetic superstition where men and women
lived since the beginning of time.
2 - And Aesop corroborated this sentiment in one of his fables
‘A wealthy Athenian, he wrote, was making a sea voyage with some
companions when a terrible storm blew up and their ship capsized. All
the other passengers started swimming but the Athenian kept praying
to Pallas Athena, making all kinds of promises if only she would save
him. Then one of the other shipwrecked passengers swam past him
and shouted,
‘While you pray to Athena, start moving your arms!’
That was the first call in history for mortals to take charge of their lives.
3 - A couple of centuries later the Sophist Protagoras (490-420 BCE) declared that:
‘Man is the measure of everything.’
4 - Many centuries later Robert G Ingersoll (1833-99) articulated what it means to be a Humanist.
‘When I became convinced that the universe is natural, that all the ghosts and gods are myths, there entered into my brain, into my soul, into every drop of my blood the sense, the feeling, the joy of freedom. The walls of my prison crumbled and fell. The dungeon was flooded with light and all the bolts and bars and manacles became dust. I was no longer a servant, a serf, or a slave.
There was for me no master in all the wide world, not even in infinite space,
I was free-free to think, to express my thoughts - free to live my own ideal, free to live for myself and those I loved, free to use all my faculties all my senses, free to spread imagination’s wings, free to investigate, to guess and dream and hope, free to judge and determine for myself . . . I was free! I stood erect and fearlessly, joyously faced all worlds.’
Thank you to my benefactors I cited in this short expose.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Hypatia lived and died as a Humanist among religious zealots
Reference (1) is a collection of significant film clips dedicated to Hypatia of Alexandria.
The film clips offer us glimpses of modern Alexandria, interviews with several scholars, visits to several museums, archeological sites, drawings of the ancient Alexandria and accounts of Hypatia’s achievements in Philosophy, Astronomy and Mathematics.
Some of the highlights are:
• The late Carl Sagan told 600 million television viewers, "here in the Library of Alexandria, were the first trials to understand the world (1,2)."
• Bettany Hughes (3) made the point that Alexandria was more famous than Athens and Rome.
• In her film clips Bettany included: (i) segments from Amenabar’s film “Agora”; and visits to: (a) The Bibliotheca Alexandrina. (b) the Temple of Apis in Saqqara; and (c) the archeological site of the Royal Alexandrian Library at the Kom-el-Dika.
A Polish team of archeologists discovered the ruins of the Royal Alexandrian Library and its Mouseion, the research centre of the Royal Library.
Hypatia lived and died in Alexandria as a Humanist among religious zealots
(1) http://wn.com/Hypatia_of_Alexandria.
(2) “Cosmos”- The popular television series.
(3) Oxford scholar / archeologist / BBC presenter / author of "Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princess, Whore."
The film clips offer us glimpses of modern Alexandria, interviews with several scholars, visits to several museums, archeological sites, drawings of the ancient Alexandria and accounts of Hypatia’s achievements in Philosophy, Astronomy and Mathematics.
Some of the highlights are:
• The late Carl Sagan told 600 million television viewers, "here in the Library of Alexandria, were the first trials to understand the world (1,2)."
• Bettany Hughes (3) made the point that Alexandria was more famous than Athens and Rome.
• In her film clips Bettany included: (i) segments from Amenabar’s film “Agora”; and visits to: (a) The Bibliotheca Alexandrina. (b) the Temple of Apis in Saqqara; and (c) the archeological site of the Royal Alexandrian Library at the Kom-el-Dika.
A Polish team of archeologists discovered the ruins of the Royal Alexandrian Library and its Mouseion, the research centre of the Royal Library.
Hypatia lived and died in Alexandria as a Humanist among religious zealots
(1) http://wn.com/Hypatia_of_Alexandria.
(2) “Cosmos”- The popular television series.
(3) Oxford scholar / archeologist / BBC presenter / author of "Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princess, Whore."
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
The Publishing Revolution - P.S. Thank You Amazon
Two traditional publishers published my two university textbooks because I had a long list of publications in the field of Radio Astronomy; in their language I had a platform.
After I wrote my first literary novel I spent many months trying to find a publisher to no avail mainly because I didn’t have a platform in the literary circles. I therefore, like many authors, have a dossier of rejection letters from traditional publishers.
As I was keen to get my work out there, I approached a local publisher in Adelaide who published my first literary novel Hollywood Amarroo – a chronicle about two young lovers who ignored the prejudices of the sixties in Australia to defend an Aboriginal mother accused of manslaughter.
I organized a successful book launch but after that happening, I didn’t sell many copies of my book because no one advertised and / or marketed my book.
Outskirts Press published Hypatia’s Feud, my second literary book, because I didn’t want to go for another merry go round with the traditional publishers. The time it took Outskirts Press to convert my manuscript, MS, as a WORD doc to a book and e-book was about six months. Amazon now advertises and markets my book but it was a costly experiment.
Thanks to the publishing revolution authors now have a third alternative: Amazon’s CreatSpace. An author sends the finished MS to Amazon’s CreateSpace where it is converted into an e-book and presto the author’s book is out there in the virtual world! Parenthetically I’ll add that the cost of converting the MS as a WORD doc to an e-book is less than$100. With this approach the author has absolute control of every aspect of production and earns royalties worth 70% of the book’s purchase price. The royalties offered by CreatSpace therefore compare favourably with the 15% (of the book’s purchase price) I earn from my university text books. It is simply brilliant!
Royalties aside imagine how many trees authors would save using Amazon’s CreateSpace to put their work out there. Many readers would simply visit the virtual Amazon bookshop before they can buy any e-books, costing less, say, $6.00. E-books are simply transmitted to the reader via the Internet, almost instantly, so no one pays packaging or postal charges. And more importantly no more merry go rounds for authors dealing with traditional publishers. Lastly non- English authors can also use Amazon’s CreateSpace to get their work out there.
I’m already working toward re-issuing my Hollywood Amarroo book as an e-book. Now you know the route I’ll pursue to publish all my future books.
After I wrote my first literary novel I spent many months trying to find a publisher to no avail mainly because I didn’t have a platform in the literary circles. I therefore, like many authors, have a dossier of rejection letters from traditional publishers.
As I was keen to get my work out there, I approached a local publisher in Adelaide who published my first literary novel Hollywood Amarroo – a chronicle about two young lovers who ignored the prejudices of the sixties in Australia to defend an Aboriginal mother accused of manslaughter.
I organized a successful book launch but after that happening, I didn’t sell many copies of my book because no one advertised and / or marketed my book.
Outskirts Press published Hypatia’s Feud, my second literary book, because I didn’t want to go for another merry go round with the traditional publishers. The time it took Outskirts Press to convert my manuscript, MS, as a WORD doc to a book and e-book was about six months. Amazon now advertises and markets my book but it was a costly experiment.
Thanks to the publishing revolution authors now have a third alternative: Amazon’s CreatSpace. An author sends the finished MS to Amazon’s CreateSpace where it is converted into an e-book and presto the author’s book is out there in the virtual world! Parenthetically I’ll add that the cost of converting the MS as a WORD doc to an e-book is less than$100. With this approach the author has absolute control of every aspect of production and earns royalties worth 70% of the book’s purchase price. The royalties offered by CreatSpace therefore compare favourably with the 15% (of the book’s purchase price) I earn from my university text books. It is simply brilliant!
Royalties aside imagine how many trees authors would save using Amazon’s CreateSpace to put their work out there. Many readers would simply visit the virtual Amazon bookshop before they can buy any e-books, costing less, say, $6.00. E-books are simply transmitted to the reader via the Internet, almost instantly, so no one pays packaging or postal charges. And more importantly no more merry go rounds for authors dealing with traditional publishers. Lastly non- English authors can also use Amazon’s CreateSpace to get their work out there.
I’m already working toward re-issuing my Hollywood Amarroo book as an e-book. Now you know the route I’ll pursue to publish all my future books.
Monday, May 9, 2011
My book "Hypatia's Feud" is in Amazon
The publication of my book “Hypatia’s Feud” marks the end of a three year project during which I researched, wrote and edited the manuscript.
During that period I had many interesting conversations with friends and colleagues. Some women who graduated from various courses broadly labeled as Women Studies were not happy hearing that I was writing a book based on the life and times of Hypatia. The insinuation was that Hypatia belonged to them and I, a man, had no right to write a literary novel about their hero and idol.
The fact that I had a classical education didn’t matter to them. I reminded them that as an astronomer, qualified in Science and Mathematics I understood her achievement in these branches of science. Lastly I mentioned that I spent several summers in
An astrophysicist, I respect, insisted that Hypatia was just a mathematician. In vain I tried to convince him she was the quintessential philosopher-hero who lived and died as a Humanist among religious zealots. Sensing I could not change his mind I mentioned she was the conduit of ancient wisdom to the modern world but failed again to change his mind.
To my religious friends I stressed that Hypatia’s Feud at the dawn of the fifth century CE with all dogmatic religions and political creeds, is our feud too because her foes under different names are ever-present.
The moral of my experiences is that no matter what we choose to do or write we will always have detractors. What is important to me is to explore universal issues and put my work out there.
“Hypatia’s Feud” is now available as a book and as e-book from Amazon.
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