Science is a living, organic activity, the meaning and understanding of which have evolved incrementally over human history. This book, the second in a roughly chronological series, explores the evolution of science from the advents of Christianity and Islam through the Middle Ages, focusing especially on the historical relationship between science and religion. Specific topics include technological innovations during the Middle Ages; Islamic science; the Crusades; Gothic cathedrals; and the founding of Western universities. Close attention is given to such figures as Paul the Apostle, Hippolytus, Lactantius, Cyril of Alexandria, Hypatia, Cosmas Indicopleustes, and the Prophet Mohammed.

David Deming is a professor of Arts & Sciences at the University of Oklahoma. A geophysicist, research scientist and historian, he has written on topics ranging from the history of science to climate change and energy resources.

David Deming

Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 237
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2010
pISBN: 978-0-7864-5839-4
eISBN: 978-0-7864-5642-0
Imprint: McFarland

Preface      1

1. Christianity      3
Jesus Christ (c. 4 B.C.–A.D. 30)      3
Paul the Apostle (c. A.D. 0–60)      13
Growth of the Christian Church      18
Monasticism      23
Attitudes Toward Philosophy      26
Demonology      31
Attitudes Toward Women      36
Charity      41

2. The Dark Ages (c. A.D. 500–1000)      47
The Intellectual Decline of Europe      47
Failure of Ancient Science and Natural Philosophy      48
Cosmas Indicopleustes (c. A.D. 490–585)      56
Isidore of Seville (A.D. 560–636)      59

3. Islam      63
The Prophet Mohammed (A.D. 570–632)      63
Islamic Expansion      81
Islamic Science (c. A.D. 750–1200)      86
Decline of Islamic Science and Philosophy      105

4. High Middle Ages in Europe (c. A.D. 1000–1300)      112
Feudalism and Economic Stagnation      112
Medieval Warm Period      114
Economic and Technological Progress      115
Crusades      116
Cathedrals      120
Logic and Literature      123
Translations      132
Aristotle and the Church, 13th Century      135
Rise of the Universities      139

5. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) and Scholasticism      146
Dominican Monk      146
Albertus Magnus (c. 1200–1280)      148
Reason and Revelation      148
Summa Theologica      149
Scholastic Synthesis      152

6. Roger Bacon (c. 1214–1294)      154
Magician and Scientist      154
Emergence of Empiricism in the Thirteenth Century      155
Oxford and Robert Grosseteste      157
Paris, Magnets, and Occult Forces      159
Opus Majus      163
Compendium Studii Philosophiae      167

7. Technological Innovation During the Middle Ages      169
Unwritten History      169
Agriculture      170
Power      172
The Mechanical Clock      175
Military and Economic Technology      177

Conclusion      182
Chapter Notes      185
Bibliography      215
Index      225