This study could be seen as a continuation of Robert Merton’s classic program focused on “the interdependence between the institutions of religion and science in differing social contexts.” However, the present inquiry unites sociology and history of science by developing a comparative and civilizational framework that considers not just the European case but also the different paths of scientific development in China and the Islamic world. Such a framework acknowledges the classic rationale of the history of science which was to describe and explain the ways in scientific ideas and conceptions emerged, overcome mistaken conceptions and false starts. Such a framework has equal room for the effects of ethnicity, religion and gender on scientific development.