神话：亚历山大图书馆火灾是“人类文化史上最具破坏性的火灾”
正文翻译
Alexandria was the chief city of Hellenistic and Roman Egypt, and the most important cultural powerhouse of the ancient Mediterranean. The quotation above comes from this History Channel clip about its famous library, or rather libraries.
亚历山大是希腊化和罗马时代埃及的主要城市，也是古地中海最重要的文化中心。以上引文来自【链接】这个历史频道，是关于它著名的图书馆的。
Alexandria was the chief city of Hellenistic and Roman Egypt, and the most important cultural powerhouse of the ancient Mediterranean. The quotation above comes from this History Channel clip about its famous library, or rather libraries.
亚历山大是希腊化和罗马时代埃及的主要城市，也是古地中海最重要的文化中心。以上引文来自【链接】这个历史频道，是关于它著名的图书馆的。
The narrator goes on (at the 1 min. 39 sec. mark):
旁白说道：
旁白说道：
In the battle that followed, Caesar ordered his soldiers to burn the Egyptian fleets lying in the harbour. The fire quickly spread from the waterfront to the great library. The flames consumed a large part of the library's collection, marking the single greatest loss of knowledge in history.
“在随后的战斗中，凯撒命令他的士兵们烧毁停在港口的埃及舰队。大火迅速从码头蔓延到大图书馆。大火烧毁了图书馆的大部分藏书，造成了历史上最大的一次知识损失。
“在随后的战斗中，凯撒命令他的士兵们烧毁停在港口的埃及舰队。大火迅速从码头蔓延到大图书馆。大火烧毁了图书馆的大部分藏书，造成了历史上最大的一次知识损失。
Some historians speculate that the fire set civilisation back by a thousand years. Who knows, if the great library of Alexandria hadn't burned, Columbus may not have sailed to the New World. He might have gone to the moon!
一些历史学家推测这场大火使人类文明倒退了一千年。说不定，如果亚历山大大图书馆没有被烧毁，哥伦布可能去的就不是新大陆了，他去的可能是月球！
一些历史学家推测这场大火使人类文明倒退了一千年。说不定，如果亚历山大大图书馆没有被烧毁，哥伦布可能去的就不是新大陆了，他去的可能是月球！
Recently a new library was built in Alexandria, but it can never replace the ancient collection burnt in the fire. It contained rare manuscxts, the comedies of Aristotle, and more than 200 plays by Aeschylus and Euripides — classic works forever lost.
最近，亚历山大城建了一座新图书馆，但它永远无法复原在大火中烧毁的古代藏书了。里面包含了罕见的手稿、亚里士多德的喜剧，以及埃斯库罗斯和欧里庇得斯的200多部戏剧——这些经典作品都永远消失了。”
最近，亚历山大城建了一座新图书馆，但它永远无法复原在大火中烧毁的古代藏书了。里面包含了罕见的手稿、亚里士多德的喜剧，以及埃斯库罗斯和欧里庇得斯的200多部戏剧——这些经典作品都永远消失了。”
This snippet ranges from absurd to outright false. (Let's do the easy bits right away: Aristotle didn't write comedies, and Aeschylus and Euripides wrote a combined total of about 170 plays.) The only bit that has any basis in reality is the first line, about Caesar burning the Ptolemaic fleet. Everything else is untrue, without any room for doubt on the point.
这个视频片段是荒谬的、完全错误的。（我们马上进行简单的部分：亚里士多德没有写过喜剧，埃斯库罗斯和欧里庇得斯合共写了大约170部戏剧。）唯一有点依据的部分是第一行，关于凯撒火烧托勒密舰队。其他一切都不是真的，这方面没有任何怀疑的余地。
原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处
这个视频片段是荒谬的、完全错误的。（我们马上进行简单的部分：亚里士多德没有写过喜剧，埃斯库罗斯和欧里庇得斯合共写了大约170部戏剧。）唯一有点依据的部分是第一行，关于凯撒火烧托勒密舰队。其他一切都不是真的，这方面没有任何怀疑的余地。
原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处
It's not like the History Channel is conveying an isolated opinion, by the way. It is really widely believed. Here's a full-length documentary that makes similar claims; the Wikipedia article on the subject refers to "the incalculable loss of ancient works"; Joel Levy's 2006 book Lost Histories calls it "the day that history lost its memory"; online forums frequently get questions about just how big a disaster it was.
顺便说一下，这个历史频道传达的并不是个孤立的看法。实际上这种看法是被广泛相信的。这是一部长篇纪录片【链接】，里边提出了类似的主张；维基百科上面关于这一主题的文章里也提到“古代作品无法估量的损失”； 乔尔·利维2006年出版的《失落的历史》一书称之为“历史失去记忆的一天”； 网上论坛经常有人问，这场灾难到底有多大。
顺便说一下，这个历史频道传达的并不是个孤立的看法。实际上这种看法是被广泛相信的。这是一部长篇纪录片【链接】，里边提出了类似的主张；维基百科上面关于这一主题的文章里也提到“古代作品无法估量的损失”； 乔尔·利维2006年出版的《失落的历史》一书称之为“历史失去记忆的一天”； 网上论坛经常有人问，这场灾难到底有多大。
If the loss of the library was "the single greatest loss of knowledge" in history, that would mean the books destroyed were the only existing copies of those books.
如果图书馆的损失是历史上“最大一次的知识损失”， 那意味着被毁的书是唯一现存的副本。
如果图书馆的损失是历史上“最大一次的知识损失”， 那意味着被毁的书是唯一现存的副本。
Suppose — heaven forfend — that the British Library burned down tomorrow, or the Library of Congress. What kind of a loss would it be? In cultural terms, and purely in monetary terms, it would be catastrophic: millions of manuscxts, autographs, and rare and unique items would be lost, and the cost of replacing the printed collection would be vast.
假设——大英图书馆或者美国国会图书馆明天被烧毁。那会是什么程度的损失呢？从文化角度来看，纯粹从货币角度来看，这将是灾难性的：无数份手稿、签名以及罕见、独特的物品将损失，更换印刷藏品的成本会很巨大。
假设——大英图书馆或者美国国会图书馆明天被烧毁。那会是什么程度的损失呢？从文化角度来看，纯粹从货币角度来看，这将是灾难性的：无数份手稿、签名以及罕见、独特的物品将损失，更换印刷藏品的成本会很巨大。
But barely a scrap of actual knowledge would be lost. Ismail Kadare's novels would survive. The Thirty Years War would not be forgotten. Aeroplanes and computers would not become treasured relics, never to be recreated.
但几乎没有一点知识会损失。伊斯梅尔·卡达雷的小说将幸存下来。三十年战争不会被遗忘。飞机和电脑不会成为珍贵的文物，永远不会被重新创造。
但几乎没有一点知识会损失。伊斯梅尔·卡达雷的小说将幸存下来。三十年战争不会被遗忘。飞机和电脑不会成为珍贵的文物，永远不会被重新创造。
This is because there are lots and lots and lots of repositories of information in the world. And exactly the same was true in Greco-Roman antiquity. There were hundreds of libraries of Greek and Latin texts dotted around the Mediterranean. Alexandria was the biggest, but it was just one fish in a sea of libraries. There were also important centres at Pergamon, Athens, Rome, Constantinople, and many important private collections. Roman aristocrats founded many libraries in the early Principate; clubs and gymnasia in Greece were also centres of learning, with their own libraries, and we have inscxtions cataloguing regular deposits of books in their collections. Caesar's fire did not stop Athenaeus and Julius Africanus from being profoundly well-read more than two centuries later, and the likes of Pliny the Elder and Pausanias did their research privately or in Athens, not in Alexandria.
这是因为世界上有很多很多的信息库。古希腊罗马时期也是如此。地中海周围散布着数百个希腊语和拉丁语图书馆。亚历山大是最大的图书馆，但它只是众多图书馆中的一个。在佩加蒙、雅典、罗马、君士坦丁堡也有重要的中心，还有许多重要的私人收藏。罗马贵族们在元首制早期建立了许多图书馆；希腊的俱乐部和健身房也是学习的中心，有自己的图书馆，我们有碑铭，对他们收藏的书籍进行定期的分类。凯撒的大火并没有阻止《Athenaeus and Julius Africanus》被广泛阅读，而老普林尼和保萨尼亚斯等人或私下研究或是在雅典研究，而不是在亚历山大进行。
这是因为世界上有很多很多的信息库。古希腊罗马时期也是如此。地中海周围散布着数百个希腊语和拉丁语图书馆。亚历山大是最大的图书馆，但它只是众多图书馆中的一个。在佩加蒙、雅典、罗马、君士坦丁堡也有重要的中心，还有许多重要的私人收藏。罗马贵族们在元首制早期建立了许多图书馆；希腊的俱乐部和健身房也是学习的中心，有自己的图书馆，我们有碑铭，对他们收藏的书籍进行定期的分类。凯撒的大火并没有阻止《Athenaeus and Julius Africanus》被广泛阅读，而老普林尼和保萨尼亚斯等人或私下研究或是在雅典研究，而不是在亚历山大进行。
评论翻译
joker1288
Yea.. I’d argue that the destruction of Baghdad by the Mongols was a much larger loss for humanity, when it comes to ancient knowledge.
是的，在古代知识方面，我认为蒙古人对巴格达的破坏对人类来说是个更大的损失。
Yea.. I’d argue that the destruction of Baghdad by the Mongols was a much larger loss for humanity, when it comes to ancient knowledge.
是的，在古代知识方面，我认为蒙古人对巴格达的破坏对人类来说是个更大的损失。
LunLocra
Baghdad case is also bullshit myth if you actually go into history of science in Islamic world. Saying "destroying Baghdad crippled Islamic science" is like believeing that if you destroyed Oxford in 16th century you would cripple "Christian science" because you took down ONE of countless research centers.
Fun facts
Science in the Islamic world has flourished for two centuries after 1258
The city itself was already in a decline by the time of invasion, not a scientific superpower for a long time, with all its greatest accomplishments copied and spread across the world long time ago
Under Mongol rule (which itself in Ilkhanate was conductive to science and patronized it) Baghdad quickly reached 100,000 inhabitants again (by the way it wasn't even "completely destroyed" to begin with). It was only crippled by Timur's invasion 150 years later combined with chaos of 15th century and stagnatiom under Ottomans.
如果你研究伊斯兰世界的科学史，就知道巴格达事件也是胡扯。说“摧毁巴格达削弱了伊斯兰科学” 就跟相信如果你在16世纪摧毁了牛津，你就削弱了“基督教科学”一样，因为你摧毁了无数研究中心中的一个。
有趣的事实：1258年后的两个世纪，伊斯兰世界的科学蓬勃发展。在蒙古人入侵时，这座城市本身已经衰落了，它在很长一段时间内都不是个科学中心，很久以前它所有最伟大的成就都被复制并传播到世界各地了。
在蒙古人的统治下，巴格达很快又达到了10万居民（顺便说一句，它一开始并没有“完全被摧毁”）。 150年后，由于帖木儿的入侵，加上15世纪的混乱和奥斯曼帝国统治下的停滞，这座城市才变得严重损坏。
Baghdad case is also bullshit myth if you actually go into history of science in Islamic world. Saying "destroying Baghdad crippled Islamic science" is like believeing that if you destroyed Oxford in 16th century you would cripple "Christian science" because you took down ONE of countless research centers.
Fun facts
Science in the Islamic world has flourished for two centuries after 1258
The city itself was already in a decline by the time of invasion, not a scientific superpower for a long time, with all its greatest accomplishments copied and spread across the world long time ago
Under Mongol rule (which itself in Ilkhanate was conductive to science and patronized it) Baghdad quickly reached 100,000 inhabitants again (by the way it wasn't even "completely destroyed" to begin with). It was only crippled by Timur's invasion 150 years later combined with chaos of 15th century and stagnatiom under Ottomans.
如果你研究伊斯兰世界的科学史，就知道巴格达事件也是胡扯。说“摧毁巴格达削弱了伊斯兰科学” 就跟相信如果你在16世纪摧毁了牛津，你就削弱了“基督教科学”一样，因为你摧毁了无数研究中心中的一个。
有趣的事实：1258年后的两个世纪，伊斯兰世界的科学蓬勃发展。在蒙古人入侵时，这座城市本身已经衰落了，它在很长一段时间内都不是个科学中心，很久以前它所有最伟大的成就都被复制并传播到世界各地了。
在蒙古人的统治下，巴格达很快又达到了10万居民（顺便说一句，它一开始并没有“完全被摧毁”）。 150年后，由于帖木儿的入侵，加上15世纪的混乱和奥斯曼帝国统治下的停滞，这座城市才变得严重损坏。
Mongol empire introduced a lot of scientific innovations because it created a bridge between China, Islamic world and Europe (hence Islamic scholars in Yuan China, Chinese in Iran etc, numerous inventions spreading in this period)
Every time there is this damn myth "burning a single city destroyed science in the entire civilization" (Alwxandria, Baghdad, now the same bullshit is with Nalanda in India) ask yourself one question: do you think science in Europe would never develop if only one site of Oxford, Cambridge or Paris were destroyed? Hell you could blow up the entire 16th century England and scientific boom would go on anyway. Entire civilizations spread across continents don't depend on a single city.
蒙古帝国引入了很多科学创新，因为它在中国、伊斯兰世界和欧洲之间建立了一座桥梁(元朝的伊斯兰学者、伊朗的中国人等，将许多发明在这一时期传播开来)。
每当有这种该死的神话说“烧毁一座城市就会摧毁整个文明中的科学”（ 亚历山大、巴格达、现在印度的那烂陀寺也是一样）时，问自己一个问题：你认为如果牛津、剑桥或巴黎的一个地方被摧毁，欧洲的科学就永远不会发展了吗？就算你把整个16世纪的英国都炸毁了，科学的繁荣也会继续下去。遍布各大洲的文明并不依赖于一座城市。
Every time there is this damn myth "burning a single city destroyed science in the entire civilization" (Alwxandria, Baghdad, now the same bullshit is with Nalanda in India) ask yourself one question: do you think science in Europe would never develop if only one site of Oxford, Cambridge or Paris were destroyed? Hell you could blow up the entire 16th century England and scientific boom would go on anyway. Entire civilizations spread across continents don't depend on a single city.
蒙古帝国引入了很多科学创新，因为它在中国、伊斯兰世界和欧洲之间建立了一座桥梁(元朝的伊斯兰学者、伊朗的中国人等，将许多发明在这一时期传播开来)。
每当有这种该死的神话说“烧毁一座城市就会摧毁整个文明中的科学”（ 亚历山大、巴格达、现在印度的那烂陀寺也是一样）时，问自己一个问题：你认为如果牛津、剑桥或巴黎的一个地方被摧毁，欧洲的科学就永远不会发展了吗？就算你把整个16世纪的英国都炸毁了，科学的繁荣也会继续下去。遍布各大洲的文明并不依赖于一座城市。
101fng
The authors claim it’s the greatest cultural loss. While the two are related, culture is different from knowledge.
作者称这是最大的文化损失。虽然文化和知识相关，但文化和知识并不同。
The authors claim it’s the greatest cultural loss. While the two are related, culture is different from knowledge.
作者称这是最大的文化损失。虽然文化和知识相关，但文化和知识并不同。
GoldenToilet99
I highly doubt that the library in Baghdad was that great a loss either. Important shit tends to get copied and passed around. Was it a great cultural loss? Possibly? We can never tell for certain. But lets not pretend that it significantly held humanity back technologically.
我非常怀疑巴格达的图书馆是否也有那么大的损失。重要的东西往往会被复制和传播。这是否是巨大的文化损失？可能吧。我们永远无法确定。但我们不要假装它重要到能阻碍人类的发展。
I highly doubt that the library in Baghdad was that great a loss either. Important shit tends to get copied and passed around. Was it a great cultural loss? Possibly? We can never tell for certain. But lets not pretend that it significantly held humanity back technologically.
我非常怀疑巴格达的图书馆是否也有那么大的损失。重要的东西往往会被复制和传播。这是否是巨大的文化损失？可能吧。我们永远无法确定。但我们不要假装它重要到能阻碍人类的发展。
cristobaldelicia
IDK, I think Carl Sagan said Einstein's theories may have been discovered a century earlier if the library hadn't burnt, I think in the original Cosmos series. Of course he was probably really high when he thought that up.
我不知道，我记得卡尔·萨根说过，如果图书馆没有被烧毁，爱因斯坦的理论可能早一个世纪就被发现了，好像是在最早的宇宙系列里说的吧。当然也有可能他提出这点的时候脑子不清醒。
IDK, I think Carl Sagan said Einstein's theories may have been discovered a century earlier if the library hadn't burnt, I think in the original Cosmos series. Of course he was probably really high when he thought that up.
我不知道，我记得卡尔·萨根说过，如果图书馆没有被烧毁，爱因斯坦的理论可能早一个世纪就被发现了，好像是在最早的宇宙系列里说的吧。当然也有可能他提出这点的时候脑子不清醒。
advocatesparten
Sagan was a great Astro-physicist but a terrible historian.
萨根是一位伟大的天体物理学家，但却是糟糕的历史学家。
Sagan was a great Astro-physicist but a terrible historian.
萨根是一位伟大的天体物理学家，但却是糟糕的历史学家。
FartHog69
I mean you could argue that there have been more damaging cultural losses due to fires. Tokyo basically burned to the ground in WW2. But that’s not really productive. It was unquestionably a devastating loss of knowledge and culture. Arguing about the degree of loss is pointless because we don’t know what was lost, and that’s kind of the tragedy.
我觉得你可以认为火灾造成了更大的文化损失。在第二次世界大战中，东京基本上被烧毁了，但这并不是真正有效的。毫无疑问，这是知识和文化的毁灭性损失。争论损失的程度是毫无意义的，因为我们不知道损失了什么，这就是悲剧所在。
I mean you could argue that there have been more damaging cultural losses due to fires. Tokyo basically burned to the ground in WW2. But that’s not really productive. It was unquestionably a devastating loss of knowledge and culture. Arguing about the degree of loss is pointless because we don’t know what was lost, and that’s kind of the tragedy.
我觉得你可以认为火灾造成了更大的文化损失。在第二次世界大战中，东京基本上被烧毁了，但这并不是真正有效的。毫无疑问，这是知识和文化的毁灭性损失。争论损失的程度是毫无意义的，因为我们不知道损失了什么，这就是悲剧所在。
OmEGaDeaLs
Nobody knows exactly what was loss but for you to discredit the library as a whole does no justice. The truth is nobody knows what great truths or knowledge was exactly lost and how far it set back humanity or Egypt to say the least. However you're dealing with Egyptian culture which was also one of the most advanced, mystic, and fascinating cultures of all time. After all they did construct the great pyramids and were at the forefront of medicine, technology, and ideas. Now imagine the amount of ancient scrolls, theories, constructs or texts thay were loss.
I do like your take and I might agree with you but the fact is this was not an ordinary library this was The Library. Imagine someone burning down the internet. Think how many webpages or great ideas that would have been lost. This is a similar analogy to this catastrophe. The great library was the single biggest source of knowledge during that time period. The middle east was at the forefront of knowledge and medicine during this time and it set them back immensely.. It would have be amazing to know what exactly was loss in this great fire but all we do know is that it contained some of the most exotic scrolls to ever exist in history.
没有人确切知道损失了什么，但你要诋毁整个图书馆是不公平的。事实上，没有人知道到底是什么伟大的真理或知识被丢失了，它让人类或埃及倒退了多远。然而，你所面对的是埃及文化，它也是有史以来最先进、最神秘、最迷人的文化之一。毕竟，他们确实建造了大金字塔，并且处于医学、技术和思想的前沿。现在，想象一下损失了多少古代卷轴、理论、结构或文献。
我很喜欢你的观点，我也可能同意你的观点，但事实是这不是一个普通的图书馆，它是“The Library”。 想象一下，如果有人烧毁了互联网。想想看会有多少网页或伟大的想法将会丢失。这与这场灾难类似。在那个时期，大图书馆是最大的知识来源。那时候，中东处于知识和医学的前沿，这让他们倒退了很多。如果能知道在这场大火里究竟损失了什么，那将是一件令人惊讶的事，但我们所知道的只是，里面包含了一些历史上最奇特的卷轴。
Nobody knows exactly what was loss but for you to discredit the library as a whole does no justice. The truth is nobody knows what great truths or knowledge was exactly lost and how far it set back humanity or Egypt to say the least. However you're dealing with Egyptian culture which was also one of the most advanced, mystic, and fascinating cultures of all time. After all they did construct the great pyramids and were at the forefront of medicine, technology, and ideas. Now imagine the amount of ancient scrolls, theories, constructs or texts thay were loss.
I do like your take and I might agree with you but the fact is this was not an ordinary library this was The Library. Imagine someone burning down the internet. Think how many webpages or great ideas that would have been lost. This is a similar analogy to this catastrophe. The great library was the single biggest source of knowledge during that time period. The middle east was at the forefront of knowledge and medicine during this time and it set them back immensely.. It would have be amazing to know what exactly was loss in this great fire but all we do know is that it contained some of the most exotic scrolls to ever exist in history.
没有人确切知道损失了什么，但你要诋毁整个图书馆是不公平的。事实上，没有人知道到底是什么伟大的真理或知识被丢失了，它让人类或埃及倒退了多远。然而，你所面对的是埃及文化，它也是有史以来最先进、最神秘、最迷人的文化之一。毕竟，他们确实建造了大金字塔，并且处于医学、技术和思想的前沿。现在，想象一下损失了多少古代卷轴、理论、结构或文献。
我很喜欢你的观点，我也可能同意你的观点，但事实是这不是一个普通的图书馆，它是“The Library”。 想象一下，如果有人烧毁了互联网。想想看会有多少网页或伟大的想法将会丢失。这与这场灾难类似。在那个时期，大图书馆是最大的知识来源。那时候，中东处于知识和医学的前沿，这让他们倒退了很多。如果能知道在这场大火里究竟损失了什么，那将是一件令人惊讶的事，但我们所知道的只是，里面包含了一些历史上最奇特的卷轴。
"The Loss of Priceless Works Many famous philosophers, zoologists, biologists, and other researchers worked in the Musaeum. Therefore, the building contained several unique texts. Moreover, the Ptolemies bought many ancient scrolls, including texts by Homer, Sapho, and other ancient writers. But the books were only the part of the collection. There were also many prototypes for inventions, priceless pieces of art, etc. Most of these works were never copied and did not survive in other collections.
Researchers are still working to unveil the wonderful story of the Musaeum. Unfortunately, no matter how long they work, nothing will ever recover the burned scrolls which are lost forever.
许多著名的哲学家、动物学家、生物学家和其他研究人员在博物馆工作。因此，这座建筑包含一些独特的文本。此外，托勒密王朝购买了许多古代卷轴，包括荷马、萨波和其他古代作家的文本。但这些书只是收藏品的一部分。还有许多发明的原型、价值连城的艺术品等。这些作品大多从未被复制，也没有在其他收藏中保存下来。
研究人员仍在努力揭开博物馆的精彩故事。但不幸的是，无论他们工作多久，都无法恢复那些永远丢失的烧毁的卷轴。
Researchers are still working to unveil the wonderful story of the Musaeum. Unfortunately, no matter how long they work, nothing will ever recover the burned scrolls which are lost forever.
许多著名的哲学家、动物学家、生物学家和其他研究人员在博物馆工作。因此，这座建筑包含一些独特的文本。此外，托勒密王朝购买了许多古代卷轴，包括荷马、萨波和其他古代作家的文本。但这些书只是收藏品的一部分。还有许多发明的原型、价值连城的艺术品等。这些作品大多从未被复制，也没有在其他收藏中保存下来。
研究人员仍在努力揭开博物馆的精彩故事。但不幸的是，无论他们工作多久，都无法恢复那些永远丢失的烧毁的卷轴。
Hippopotamidaes
It was “The Library” for a time surely…eventually that title went to the Imperial Library of Constantinople, which suffered a similar fate—declination over the years.
I’m not an expert in archaic libraries, but my understanding regarding the one in Alexandria is it attained it’s pinnacle by a requirement that travelers there had to donate some unique work that was then slated to be transcribed. It was a huge information hub, attracting works from across the ancient world.
Although its destruction was the nail in the coffin, it experienced fires from Julius Caesar and other events of destruction prior to it.
That said, yes OP undermines what knowledge was lost. Perhaps manuscxts about Greek Fire, or designs of devices similar to the antikythera mechanism, architectural works, historical works, philosophical and or mathematical works.
That said, I think most can agree the decline/destruction of any library is a detriment to our societies and advancement.
有一段时间它确实是“The Library”， 最终这个头衔落到了君士坦丁堡帝国图书馆头上，多年后，它也会遭遇类似的衰落的命运。
我不是古代图书馆的专家，但我对亚历山大图书馆的理解是，它达到了当时的巅峰，因为它要求旅客必须捐赠一些独特的作品。它是一个巨大的信息中心，吸引了来自古代世界的作品。
虽然它的毁灭是棺材上的钉子，但在此之前，它经历了凯撒的火灾和其他破坏事件。
话虽如此，还是有很多知识丢失了。也许是关于希腊火的手稿，或者类似于antikythera机制的装置设计，建筑作品，历史作品，哲学和或数学作品。
我认为大多数人都同意，任何图书馆的衰落、破坏都会损害我们的社会和进步。
It was “The Library” for a time surely…eventually that title went to the Imperial Library of Constantinople, which suffered a similar fate—declination over the years.
I’m not an expert in archaic libraries, but my understanding regarding the one in Alexandria is it attained it’s pinnacle by a requirement that travelers there had to donate some unique work that was then slated to be transcribed. It was a huge information hub, attracting works from across the ancient world.
Although its destruction was the nail in the coffin, it experienced fires from Julius Caesar and other events of destruction prior to it.
That said, yes OP undermines what knowledge was lost. Perhaps manuscxts about Greek Fire, or designs of devices similar to the antikythera mechanism, architectural works, historical works, philosophical and or mathematical works.
That said, I think most can agree the decline/destruction of any library is a detriment to our societies and advancement.
有一段时间它确实是“The Library”， 最终这个头衔落到了君士坦丁堡帝国图书馆头上，多年后，它也会遭遇类似的衰落的命运。
我不是古代图书馆的专家，但我对亚历山大图书馆的理解是，它达到了当时的巅峰，因为它要求旅客必须捐赠一些独特的作品。它是一个巨大的信息中心，吸引了来自古代世界的作品。
虽然它的毁灭是棺材上的钉子，但在此之前，它经历了凯撒的火灾和其他破坏事件。
话虽如此，还是有很多知识丢失了。也许是关于希腊火的手稿，或者类似于antikythera机制的装置设计，建筑作品，历史作品，哲学和或数学作品。
我认为大多数人都同意，任何图书馆的衰落、破坏都会损害我们的社会和进步。
elmonoenano
Greek Fire was still being used in the 7th century so this kind of supports the author's argument.
As far as mathematics goes, I think it's unlikely that this had any impact. These were all cultures without the concept of zero. None of these cultures would ever invent it. Math kind of hits a wall it can't progress pass until you get that concept and that's why we see most of the innovation before the 14th century in India and Arab countries and then see a huge rush of innovations after it spreads out of Genoa in the 14th century.
希腊火在7世纪仍在使用，这在某种程度上支持了作者的观点。
在数学方面，我认为这不太可能产生什么影响。这些文化都还没有产生零的概念。这些文化都不会发明出它。在发明这个概念之前，数学像撞上了一堵墙，无法前进，这就是我们在14世纪之前在印度和阿拉伯国家看到很多创新的原因，然后在14世纪从热那亚传播出去后看到了巨大创新热潮。
Greek Fire was still being used in the 7th century so this kind of supports the author's argument.
As far as mathematics goes, I think it's unlikely that this had any impact. These were all cultures without the concept of zero. None of these cultures would ever invent it. Math kind of hits a wall it can't progress pass until you get that concept and that's why we see most of the innovation before the 14th century in India and Arab countries and then see a huge rush of innovations after it spreads out of Genoa in the 14th century.
希腊火在7世纪仍在使用，这在某种程度上支持了作者的观点。
在数学方面，我认为这不太可能产生什么影响。这些文化都还没有产生零的概念。这些文化都不会发明出它。在发明这个概念之前，数学像撞上了一堵墙，无法前进，这就是我们在14世纪之前在印度和阿拉伯国家看到很多创新的原因，然后在14世纪从热那亚传播出去后看到了巨大创新热潮。
Penis_Bees
I think the big issue with calling something like this "the greatest tragedy" and etc is that you can't really measure it.
Like is it the percent of knowledge lost, is it the number of people it impacts, is it the size of that impact, is it how wide spread the affect is, is it based on something else entirely?
Like to an isolated tribe of people, losing the cheif without having his knowledge passed down would be a more complete loss of knowledge within that group. It would impact them to a larger degree and more completely. So on the scale of that tribe, it's a much bigger tragedy.
Meanwhile losing the internet today would affect more lives to a greater degree than the library of Alexandria. But less knowledge would be lost since so much exist outside the internet in books, PCs, etc. It's just the access that would be lost.
我认为把事情称为“最大的悲剧”里面的大问题是，你无法真正衡量它。
比如，是知识损失的百分比，是影响的人数，影响的大小，传播范围有多广，还是完全基于其他东西?
就像一个孤立的部落一样，失去了酋长，他的知识没有传承下去，对这个群体来说是更彻底的知识损失。这将对他们产生更大程度和更全面的影响。所以在这个部落的规模上，这是一个更大的悲剧。
与此同时，如果今天失去互联网将对更多的人产生比亚历山大图书馆更大的影响。但是，由于互联网之外的书籍、电脑等中存在着非常多的知识，因此损失的知识会更少。损失的只是访问权限。
I think the big issue with calling something like this "the greatest tragedy" and etc is that you can't really measure it.
Like is it the percent of knowledge lost, is it the number of people it impacts, is it the size of that impact, is it how wide spread the affect is, is it based on something else entirely?
Like to an isolated tribe of people, losing the cheif without having his knowledge passed down would be a more complete loss of knowledge within that group. It would impact them to a larger degree and more completely. So on the scale of that tribe, it's a much bigger tragedy.
Meanwhile losing the internet today would affect more lives to a greater degree than the library of Alexandria. But less knowledge would be lost since so much exist outside the internet in books, PCs, etc. It's just the access that would be lost.
我认为把事情称为“最大的悲剧”里面的大问题是，你无法真正衡量它。
比如，是知识损失的百分比，是影响的人数，影响的大小，传播范围有多广，还是完全基于其他东西?
就像一个孤立的部落一样，失去了酋长，他的知识没有传承下去，对这个群体来说是更彻底的知识损失。这将对他们产生更大程度和更全面的影响。所以在这个部落的规模上，这是一个更大的悲剧。
与此同时，如果今天失去互联网将对更多的人产生比亚历山大图书馆更大的影响。但是，由于互联网之外的书籍、电脑等中存在着非常多的知识，因此损失的知识会更少。损失的只是访问权限。
buster_de_beer
A better analogy would be if someone corrupted all the data on Wikipedia servers. Somehow including official backups. There are copies. Not all libraries were destroyed when Alexandria's library was burned. Which is the point that is being made. There was redundancy in the system.
一个更好的类比是，“如果有人破坏了维基百科服务器上的所有数据”，包括官方备份，有副本。亚历山大图书馆被烧毁时，并不是所有的图书馆都被毁了。这就是重点。系统中是存在冗余的。
A better analogy would be if someone corrupted all the data on Wikipedia servers. Somehow including official backups. There are copies. Not all libraries were destroyed when Alexandria's library was burned. Which is the point that is being made. There was redundancy in the system.
一个更好的类比是，“如果有人破坏了维基百科服务器上的所有数据”，包括官方备份，有副本。亚历山大图书馆被烧毁时，并不是所有的图书馆都被毁了。这就是重点。系统中是存在冗余的。
HoneyInBlackCoffee
Anything that was important was probably copied and stored in other libraries too. I find it hard to believe that important documents were one of a kind
任何重要的东西都可能被复制并存储在其他图书馆中。我很难相信那些重要的文件只有一份。
Anything that was important was probably copied and stored in other libraries too. I find it hard to believe that important documents were one of a kind
任何重要的东西都可能被复制并存储在其他图书馆中。我很难相信那些重要的文件只有一份。
forsakenpear
Pretty sure the Library was way past its heyday when the fire happened, with a lot of other libraries around the Mediterranean having taken up the mantle as centres of knowledge and learning, each with vast collections. We also don’t know how much was lost in the fire, just guesswork. And finally, the Library survived - it operated for centuries after the fire much in the same way.
The cataclysmic view of the fire and the utopian view on how the world could have looked without it is romantic and tragic, but ultimately an exaggeration of the importance of the library and the scale of the inferno.
可以确定的是，火灾发生时，图书馆已经过了它的全盛时期，地中海周围的许多其他图书馆接过了重任成为了知识和学习的中心，每个都有大量的藏书。我们也不知道在火灾里损失了多少，全都是猜测。最后，图书馆幸存了下来，大火后，它以同样的方式运作了几个世纪。
对这场大火的灾难性看法，以及对没有这场大火的世界会是什么样子的乌托邦观点，既浪漫又悲惨，但最终夸大了图书馆的重要性和大火的规模。
Pretty sure the Library was way past its heyday when the fire happened, with a lot of other libraries around the Mediterranean having taken up the mantle as centres of knowledge and learning, each with vast collections. We also don’t know how much was lost in the fire, just guesswork. And finally, the Library survived - it operated for centuries after the fire much in the same way.
The cataclysmic view of the fire and the utopian view on how the world could have looked without it is romantic and tragic, but ultimately an exaggeration of the importance of the library and the scale of the inferno.
可以确定的是，火灾发生时，图书馆已经过了它的全盛时期，地中海周围的许多其他图书馆接过了重任成为了知识和学习的中心，每个都有大量的藏书。我们也不知道在火灾里损失了多少，全都是猜测。最后，图书馆幸存了下来，大火后，它以同样的方式运作了几个世纪。
对这场大火的灾难性看法，以及对没有这场大火的世界会是什么样子的乌托邦观点，既浪漫又悲惨，但最终夸大了图书馆的重要性和大火的规模。
casualsubversive
Despite reading the post, you are clinging to a number of myths:
The Library of Alexandria wasn't the Internet. It was Harvard. If Harvard burned down, we'd still have Yale. And Princeton. And Columbia.
Yes, Ancient Egypt was ancient, and cultured, with a lot of amazing achievements, but you're still over-romanticizing them. They also got steamrolled by the Ancient Greeks under Alexander (not the first time they'd been conquered). That's when the Library was created. If it really contained important technological secrets, they did nothing to prevent Alexandria or Egypt from being steamrolled by the Ancient Romans.
Yes, we probably lost unique knowledge when the library burned, stuff I really wish we still had. But the truth is, we probably would have lost most of it anyway.
尽管读了这篇文章，你还是坚持一些缥缈的东西：
亚历山大图书馆不是互联网。而是哈佛。如果哈佛被烧毁，我们还有耶鲁。还有普林斯顿。还有哥伦比亚。
是的，古埃及很古老，很有文化，取得了很多惊人的成就，但你仍然把它们过度浪漫化了。他们也被亚历山大统治下的古希腊人打败(这不是他们第一次被征服)。图书馆就是在那时建立的。如果它真的包含重要的技术秘密，他们也无法阻止亚历山大或埃及被古罗马人打败。
是的，当图书馆被烧毁时，我们可能失去了独特的知识，我真的希望我们还拥有这些知识。但事实是，不管怎样，我们可能已经失去了大部分。
Despite reading the post, you are clinging to a number of myths:
The Library of Alexandria wasn't the Internet. It was Harvard. If Harvard burned down, we'd still have Yale. And Princeton. And Columbia.
Yes, Ancient Egypt was ancient, and cultured, with a lot of amazing achievements, but you're still over-romanticizing them. They also got steamrolled by the Ancient Greeks under Alexander (not the first time they'd been conquered). That's when the Library was created. If it really contained important technological secrets, they did nothing to prevent Alexandria or Egypt from being steamrolled by the Ancient Romans.
Yes, we probably lost unique knowledge when the library burned, stuff I really wish we still had. But the truth is, we probably would have lost most of it anyway.
尽管读了这篇文章，你还是坚持一些缥缈的东西：
亚历山大图书馆不是互联网。而是哈佛。如果哈佛被烧毁，我们还有耶鲁。还有普林斯顿。还有哥伦比亚。
是的，古埃及很古老，很有文化，取得了很多惊人的成就，但你仍然把它们过度浪漫化了。他们也被亚历山大统治下的古希腊人打败(这不是他们第一次被征服)。图书馆就是在那时建立的。如果它真的包含重要的技术秘密，他们也无法阻止亚历山大或埃及被古罗马人打败。
是的，当图书馆被烧毁时，我们可能失去了独特的知识，我真的希望我们还拥有这些知识。但事实是，不管怎样，我们可能已经失去了大部分。
aguidom
Nah trust me, by the time the library of Alexandra burned it waa no longer "The Library" and it had no been por 4 centuries. By the time it burned the knowlegde it held was already held in other, more important archives around the Mediterranean, such as Rome, Constantinople and Antioch. Even when accounting for inventions, if these didn't impact humanity in any way, they were most probably curiosities for tourists to gawk at.
For hundreds of years successive Roman emperors had been defunding the institution and taking valued manuscxts elsewhere. Because humans aren't so stupid as to concentrate most of human knowlegde in one place. Anything that Ancient Egyptians could have invented or discovered, was already being used and taught all around. By the time it burned, 90% of manuscxts were, wait for it, literary commentary on poems. Yes, I'm not kidding. Most of the library were reactions by newer poets and intellectuals written about older works mostly from Greek culture. And people would comment on the same works, over and over again.
不，相信我，当亚历山大图书馆被烧毁时，它已经不再是"The Library"了，而且已经过去4个世纪了。当它拥有的知识被烧毁时，那些知识已经被保存在地中海周围的其他更重要的档案馆中，比如罗马、君士坦丁堡和安条克了。即使考虑到发明，如果这些发明没有对人类产生任何影响，它们也不过只是游客们的好奇之物。
几百年来，历代罗马皇帝一直在从该机构撤资，并将有价值的手稿转移到其他地方。因为人类不会愚蠢到把人类的大部分知识集中在一个地方。任何古埃及人可以发明或发现的东西，都已经被广泛使用和传授。等到它被烧毁时，90%的手稿都是诗歌文学评论。是的，我不是在开玩笑。图书馆里的大部分是新诗人和知识分子对旧作品的评价，这些作品大多来自希腊文化。人们会一遍又一遍地评论同样的作品。
Nah trust me, by the time the library of Alexandra burned it waa no longer "The Library" and it had no been por 4 centuries. By the time it burned the knowlegde it held was already held in other, more important archives around the Mediterranean, such as Rome, Constantinople and Antioch. Even when accounting for inventions, if these didn't impact humanity in any way, they were most probably curiosities for tourists to gawk at.
For hundreds of years successive Roman emperors had been defunding the institution and taking valued manuscxts elsewhere. Because humans aren't so stupid as to concentrate most of human knowlegde in one place. Anything that Ancient Egyptians could have invented or discovered, was already being used and taught all around. By the time it burned, 90% of manuscxts were, wait for it, literary commentary on poems. Yes, I'm not kidding. Most of the library were reactions by newer poets and intellectuals written about older works mostly from Greek culture. And people would comment on the same works, over and over again.
不，相信我，当亚历山大图书馆被烧毁时，它已经不再是"The Library"了，而且已经过去4个世纪了。当它拥有的知识被烧毁时，那些知识已经被保存在地中海周围的其他更重要的档案馆中，比如罗马、君士坦丁堡和安条克了。即使考虑到发明，如果这些发明没有对人类产生任何影响，它们也不过只是游客们的好奇之物。
几百年来，历代罗马皇帝一直在从该机构撤资，并将有价值的手稿转移到其他地方。因为人类不会愚蠢到把人类的大部分知识集中在一个地方。任何古埃及人可以发明或发现的东西，都已经被广泛使用和传授。等到它被烧毁时，90%的手稿都是诗歌文学评论。是的，我不是在开玩笑。图书馆里的大部分是新诗人和知识分子对旧作品的评价，这些作品大多来自希腊文化。人们会一遍又一遍地评论同样的作品。
Because human intellect at the time was mostly spend in debating, reading and rationalizing, not trying to invent a new weapon. In fact, the Library of Alexandra became infamous for how bloated in literary commentary it had collected (which often were long and boring texts explaining this and that poem) that people used "Alexandrine" as another term for "boring".
So no, the burning was not the biggest catastrophy. The knowldedge it held (at least the most relevant) was already disseminated all around the Mediterranean, and the institution was maybpastbits prime, more a tourist attraction than a place were the world's biggest thinkers would go. Sure, much was lost in the way of literature, music and history, but certainly not in maths or any other science.
因为当时人类的才智主要用于辩论、阅读和解释上，而不是试图发明一种新武器。事实上，亚历山大图书馆因其收集的文学评论(通常是解释这首诗和那首诗的冗长而乏味的文本)而臭名昭著，以至于人们用“亚历山大”来作为“无聊”的另一个术语。
所以不，大火并不是最大的灾难。它所拥有的知识(至少是最相关的知识)已经在地中海各地传播，而这个机构可能已经过了巅峰期，更像是一个旅游景点，而不是世界上最伟大的思想家们会聚集的地方。当然，在文学、音乐和历史方面损失了很多，但在数学或其他科学方面肯定没有损失。
原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处
So no, the burning was not the biggest catastrophy. The knowldedge it held (at least the most relevant) was already disseminated all around the Mediterranean, and the institution was maybpastbits prime, more a tourist attraction than a place were the world's biggest thinkers would go. Sure, much was lost in the way of literature, music and history, but certainly not in maths or any other science.
因为当时人类的才智主要用于辩论、阅读和解释上，而不是试图发明一种新武器。事实上，亚历山大图书馆因其收集的文学评论(通常是解释这首诗和那首诗的冗长而乏味的文本)而臭名昭著，以至于人们用“亚历山大”来作为“无聊”的另一个术语。
所以不，大火并不是最大的灾难。它所拥有的知识(至少是最相关的知识)已经在地中海各地传播，而这个机构可能已经过了巅峰期，更像是一个旅游景点，而不是世界上最伟大的思想家们会聚集的地方。当然，在文学、音乐和历史方面损失了很多，但在数学或其他科学方面肯定没有损失。
原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处
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