"The story of Hypatia has greatly affected the collective imagination, even outside the circle of experts. She is a scientist who is killed also because a woman who was not in her place, had a public life, spoke in public and took public positions. We must never be sure that the development of science is unstoppable. Blindly trusting in the inevitability of the need that technological development has for scientific development can be a tragic mistake. The Romans preserved Greek technology without much concern for Greek science, and the Christian fanatics led by Bishop Cyril of Alexandria calmly tore Hypatia to pieces without caring at all about the long-term consequences, rather rejoicing in the disappearance of profane knowledge considered useless, if not harmful."