Clearing the record …

… The Great Myths 5: The Destruction of the Great Library of Alexandria - History for Atheists. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

The story of the destruction of the Great Library is a positivist fairy tale, cobbled together from disparate elements and bearing almost no relationship to accurate history. The library was not a secular establishment, it was not as large as is claimed, it was not a particular centre of science and it was not a wellspring of wondrous technology. Most importantly, it was not destroyed by a crazed Christian mob intent on the destruction of rationally-based knowledge.

Read the whole thing. It is quite fascinating.