Overview

Many people believe that during the Middle Ages, Christianity was actively hostile toward science (then known as natural philosophy) and impeded its progress. This comprehensive survey of science and religion during the period between the lives of Aristotle and Copernicus demonstrates how this was not the case. Medieval theologians were not hostile to learning natural philosophy, but embraced it. Had they had not done so, the science that developed during the Scientific Revolution would not—and could not—have occurred. Students and lay readers will learn how the roots of much of the scientific culture of today originated with the religious thinkers of the Middle Ages. Science and Religion, 400 B.C. to A.D. 1550 thoroughly covers the relationship between science and religion in the medieval period, and provides many resources for the student or lay reader. The book discusses how the influx of Greek and Arabic science in the 12th and 13th centuries— especially the works of Aristotle in logic and natural philosophy—dramatically changed how science was viewed in Western Europe. The volume demonstrates how medieval universities and their teachers disseminated a positive attitude toward rational inquiry and made it possible for Western Europe to become oriented toward science.

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9780313328589

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EDWARD GRANT is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History and Philosophy of Science at Indiana University, Bloomington. He is the author or editor of ten books, including The Foundations of Modern Science in the Middle Ages and God and Reason in the Middle Ages.

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