Modern science as understood today is a recent invention: it appeared in the High Middle Ages in Western Europe. This seems to be a surprising location, considering that Western Europe at the time was a backward place just emerging from a long unstable political and social situation.

However, it did happen and, once born, science spread its wings fast and wide. Its remarkable successes, from the Great Scientific Revolution of the 17th century to present times, raises the natural question: why there, why then? In search of an answer, this book uncovers an informed, realistic picture of the complex relationship between Church and science.