In the Encyclopedia Britannica I found an impressive bibliography of works on
the history of science, several were multivolume works. Not being a historian
of science, I did not recognize the authors. There was nothing, however, by
Reijer Hooykaas. Since this is not my field, however, I don't feel I can
pursue further whether the inclusion of the church's influence on the startup
of science is generally ignored or down-played in standard works on the
history of science. My gut feeling is that it is.
But this may be changing. The December 6 issue of *Science News* announced
the following book: *The Dancing Universe: From Creation Myths to the Big
Bang*, by Marcelo Gleiser. The book is described as follows: "Tackling the
sticky subject of the connection between spirituality and modern cosmology is
Dartmouth physics professor Gleiser. He skillfully shows how the religious
beliefs and convictions of Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, and Einstein
influenced their work on how those elements overlap in the advancement of
concepts such as quantum mechanics and particle physics. By classifying
different creation concepts according to whether they assume a beginning in
time or instead focus on an eternal universe, he traces the links between
ancient philosophy, Hinduism, and the like and modern cosmology. Dutton,
1997, 338 p., hardcover, $27.95."