Book Review: Hypatia of Alexandria by Laurel A. Rockefeller

As the western world fell into darkness, she dared defend the light.

Born in 355 CE in the aftermath of Constantine’s reign, Hypatia of Alexandria lived in a collapsing Roman Empire, a world where obedience to religious authorities trumped science, where reason and logic threatened the new world order. It was a world on the edge of the Dark Ages, a world deciding the question of science verses religion, freedom verses orthodoxy, tolerance verses hate.

For over 40 years, Hypatia stood between the dark ages and the light of classical philosophy, arts, and sciences. Though none of her books survived the aggressive book burnings of religious zealots, her legacy remains that of one of the greatest scientists of all time.

My Review: 4-Stars

I have mixed feelings about Hypatia of Alexandria. On the one hand, there is great value in this book in a teaching capacity as a supplement to other research material. This is a work of narrative history, and Laurel Rockerfeller is extremely well versed in the era in all aspects and has done a splendid job of adding the research into the story. Although I think the cover does a good job of showing what the book is about, I think it could use a little more of a professional touch.

Here comes the hard part for any reviewer. On the other hand, this book gets 4-stars from me because I feel it needs a good edit. There are punctuation problems, spelling errors, and formatting issues, however, these do not take away from the experience of reading the book. I learned a lot of new things about the era, the stars, and the players of the time. It jumped around too abruptly for my tastes, but overall the book is worth reading.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about Hypatia’s life and the times in which she lived.

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