was an interruption in the development of science. The 
     ‘revival of letters’ deflected interest from matter to 
     literary style and, in turning back to classical antiquity, its 
     devotees affected to ignore the scientific progress of the 
     previous three centuries. The same absurd conceit that 
     led the humanists to abuse and misrepresent their 
     immediate predecessors for using Latin constructions 
     unknown to Cicero and to put out the propaganda which, 
     in varying degrees, has captivated historical opinion until 
     quite recently, also allowed them to borrow from the 
     scholastics without acknowledgment. This habit affected 
     almost all the great scientists of the 16th and 17th 
     centuries, whether Catholic or Protestant, and it has 
     required the labors of a Duhem or a Thorndike or a Maier 
     to show that their statements on matters of history 
     cannot be accepted at their face value.