Puritanism & Rise of Science: The Merton Thesis

Fifty years ago, Robert K. Merton published 'Science, Technology and Society in Seventeenth Century England,' demonstrating quantitatively that Puritans and other ascetic Protestants were disproportionately well represented among the new scientific community of England. He argued that, for these scientists, the Puritan ethic 'was at once a direct expression of dominant values and an independent source of new motivation.' The Merton Thesis, as it has become known, about the role of religious values in science provoked great discussion among historians and sociologists of science and religion, and the debate continues today.