Agora (imdb page) recounts the events around and subsequent to the destruction of the library at Alexandria in 391AD, telling the story of Hypatia, a notable female mathematician, philosopher, astronomer and teacher. After Emperor Constantine declared Christianity legal, Alexandrian society was shaken to the core, with the political and religious machinations of Cyril, Pope of Alexandria, and Orestes, Prefect of the Diocese of Egypt, leading to a tragic climax.

Read the review of Agora in Sight and Sound here (you’ll need your library card number). Director Alejandro Amenábar was also responsible for The Others (2002), starring Nicole Kidman, and The Sea Inside (2005) with Javier Bardem.

The Library at Alexandria features in Library: an unquiet history, by Matthew Battles and also Libraries in the ancient world, by Lionel Casson

(Incidentally, the new library of Alexandria is an impressive building. Visit the website here, or have a look at the architecture here.)

If you would like to read more about Hypatia try these titles:
The book of dead philosophers, Simon Critchley
Doubt: a history: the great doubters and their legacy of innovation, from Socrates and Jesus to Thomas Jefferson and Emily Dickinson, Jennifer Michael Hecht

Search for books on the history of astronomy, and early Church history.

Hypatia is also the subject of the novel Hypatia: New Foes with an Old Face by Charles Kingsley, published in 1894. The library has a copy, or you can download it for free from Project Gutenberg here.

A free talk by Frank Andrews from Wellington Astronomical Society

Is it possible to give a scientific explanation for the biblical account of the appearance of a bright star at the time of the birth of Jesus?  By studying the few fragments of information that are available and combining them with known historical material it is possible to exclude some theories that have been put forward over the last four centuries. In putting together this complex jigsaw puzzle over a period of nearly five decades, Frank Andrews suggests a possible new scenario which fits well with biblical accounts and known, independent historical records.

Come and join us to hear more in what promises to be an entertaining talk with Frank as we near Christmas and celebrate the last event in our International Year of Astronomy series with Wellington City Libraries and Wellington Astronomical Society.

 Tuesday 1 December, 7-8pm at Central Library

Light pollution is an increasing problem threatening not only astronomy, but also human health, eco systems, safety and our human heritage.  But being dark sky friendly does not mean no light – it means using the light that you need for a particular task in the most efficient manner possible. 

Find out what you can do to save energy, money and keep the skies as natural as possible in this free illustrated talk with Steve Butler, Director of the Dark Skies Group, signatory to the NZ Urban Design Protocol and member of the International Dark-Sky Association, an educational organisation working to preserve the natural night skies worldwide.

When: Tuesday 6th October, 7pm

Where: Central Library (Victoria Street)

40 years ago this July humans landed on the Moon for the first time – and then did it five more times over the next three and a half years. In this illustrated presentation, David Maclennan, President of the NZ Spaceflight Association, will reflect on how and why the Apollo programme came to be, its historical and cultural significance, and how we experienced it all from afar here in New Zealand.

Project Apollo reflected the heady optimism of the “Swinging 60’s”, when the world finally shook off the post-World War 2 gloom and envisaged a bright, shiny future, perhaps best epitomised by Stanley Kubrick’s classic movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. That this utopian future never quite eventuated may in part explain why humans haven’t returned to the Moon since December 1972.

But all that will soon change – come along to find out more about plans for humans to be back on the Moon by 2020, and later on to Mars…

When: Tuesday 21 July, 7-8pm

Where: Central Library, 65 Victoria Street, Wellington

The cosmodome, a portable planetarium for showing the night sky, has been so popular that all sessions for today,  its final day at Central Library, have been booked out very quickly.  We have been thrilled with the response from the public over the last five days.

More events for the International Year of Astronomy are planned, watch this blog for details as they come to hand.

The Cosmodome will be at Central Library very soon – Rebecca in this video shows what it will look like and gives further information about the event:

Venetia Phair - the last person to be said to have named a planet – died two weeks ago at the age of 90. She thought up the name Pluto for the newly discovered planet in 1930 at the age of 11, and suggested it to her uncle over breakfast. He – luckily – was a good friend of the professor of astronomy at Oxford, and the name was adopted a couple of months after its discovery.

Sadly, Pluto’s classification as a planet was changed in 2006 when the definition of a planet was changed; it is now considered a dwarf planet, along with Ceres, Eris, Haumea and the delightfully named Makemake.

Interestingly, the word ‘plutoed‘ (meaning to demote or devalue something or someone) was chosen by the American Dialect Society as word of the year in 2006.