Just as Greece is a land of extremes, so are the islands. One can find remote, far away refuges and feel that is living close to nature (such as Ios and Alonisos) or can choose to rub shoulders with the high and mighty on the cosmopolitan island of Myconos, providing five star hotels, quality restaurants and night life. Then again if one is interested in religious events, or is susceptible to miracles, one can go to Tinos and Paros, and if one is penchant in science and mathematics, then one must pay a visit to Samos where not only Pythagoras lived but also the astronomer Aristarchos (and on a moonless night when the stars shine brighter than anything one can understand why astronomy, too, flourished in this area) and the architect Mandrocles, to name but a few. This is perhaps why the University of the Aegean decided to found its Mathematics Department on this island.