The purpose of this volume is to provide a comprehensive survey of the historical relationship of the
Western religious traditions to science from the time of the Greeks of the fifth century before Christ to the
late twentieth century. The editors’ decision to limit the volume’s coverage to the West reflects both our
own professional backgrounds and our belief that, underlying the diversity of the several streams that have
fed Western civilization, there exists a basic substratum, formed by the West’s dual heritage of the classical
world of Greece and Rome and the monotheistic traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The more
than one hundred articles that we have commissioned demonstrate that, within that heritage, science and
religion have enjoyed a varied and multifaceted association. From the beginning, the editors intended to
produce a volume that would provide a convenient summary of recent historical scholarship. In assigning the
articles, we have been fortunate in enlisting the cooperation of many of the leading scholars in the field.
Our contributors have been drawn from a variety of backgrounds. No single point of view—in respect to
either religion or historical interpretation—can be said to monopolize these pages. While many of our
contributors share the view of the editors that the historical relationship of science and religion has been a
complex one—sometimes harmonious, sometimes conflictive, often merely coexisting—others retain a less
benign view of Western religions as they have interacted with science. Moreover, readers will find some
overlap in the subjects treated. Rather than strive vigorously to avoid duplication, we have commissioned
several essays that deal with different aspects of the same subject. Our desire throughout has been that each
article should provide a comprehensive treatment of its subject.