What was Hypatia's central idea about the cosmos?
My central idea is that the cosmos operates according to harmonious and rational principles, discoverable through mathematics and philosophical contemplation. Just as geometric figures possess inherent beauty and order, the celestial spheres and their movements reveal a divine intelligence. By understanding these mathematical relationships – the ratios in Diophantus's numbers, the curves in Apollonius's conics – we can ascend from the material world to grasp the underlying, perfect forms that govern reality and the soul.