Credit: Desiree Adams/Penguin Random House UK
Naoíse Mac Sweeney discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.
Naoíse Mac Sweeney is Professor of Classical Archaeology at the University of Vienna. She previously held posts at Cambridge and Leicester Universities, and has won numerous academic awards for her work on classical antiquity and myths both in the UK and the EU. Her previous book was shortlisted for major awards, and she has appeared on Thinking Allowed on BBC Radio 4 and was a reporter on BBC4’s Digging for Britain TV series with Alice Roberts. Her new book is The West: A New History of an Old Idea.
1. Al-Kindi https://ndpr.nd.edu/reviews/al-kind/
2. Tullia D’Aragona https://projectvox.org/tullia-daragona-c-1505-1556/
3. Phyllis Wheatley https://www.newyorker.com/books/under-review/how-phillis-wheatley-was-recovered-through-history
4. Mary Fisher https://www.friendsjournal.org/mary-fisher/
5. Juan Latino https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/latino-juan-c-1518-c-1594/
6. Hans Joachim Winkelmann https://www.theflorentine.net/2015/06/25/johann-joachim-winckelmann/
Better Known 
The point about Al-Kindi’s role in transmitting classical knowledge is a crucial reminder of how interconnected intellectual history truly is. It makes you reconsider the very foundations of “Western” thought. More people need to hear this perspective.
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