The Rise of Early Modern Science: Islam, China and the West.(Brief Article)

This is a study in historical and comparative sociology designed to answer the question why the scientific revolution took place in early modern Europe but not in the comparable civilizations of China and Islam. While not directly a work in theology or philosophy of religion, it has two great merits for readers of this journal. First, it provides a definitive, albeit implicit, commentary on the thesis much beloved by some theologians that the Christian doctrine of creation was responsible for the rise of modern science. Second, it casts light on the general theme of the origins of modernity. The work does emphasize the role of Christian beliefs in the rationality of the world …