In my opinion such developments have less to do with turning to or turning away from "science" and such, but more with the general economy. Western Europe deve

In my opinion such developments have less to do with turning to or turning away from "science" and such, but more with the general economy. Western Europe developed into an economic powerhouse during that time, both through population growth and later and concurrent the industrial revolution. That didn't happen in the islamic world (and many third world countries), or only "under the boot" of the Europeans. So now the lesser developed countries are catching up in terms of population numbers but lagging in terms of wealth. And with that, in their investments in science.