Religious Values and The Rise of Science in Europe

A collection of articles that examine the social and cultural environment surrounding scientific activity and its effects on the development of early modern science during the
16th and 17th centuries, in European and Islamic contexts. Most of the articles were presented at the workshop on the theme “Science and Human Values” which was organised by the European Science Foundation in cooperation with IRCICA and the Turkish Society for History of Science, on 6-7 October 2001, at IRCICA, İstanbul. The workshop was co-chaired by by Prof. Dr. Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, Secretary General of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, who was then the Director General of IRCICA (1980 - Dec. 2004), and Prof. Dr. John Hedley Brooke from Oxford University, Chairman of the European Science Foundation. İhsanoğlu and Brooke also cooperated in editing the book for publication by IRCICA. The research articles contained in the present book review some trends and developments of early modern science during the 16th and 17th centuries, and explore how various values affected them, either positively or negatively. Particular attention is devoted to values based on religion, with some of the articles giving new insights into the relation between science and religion and suggesting the proper perspectives to be adopted in the analysis of this relation.