Science did not spring forth like athena from zeus' head. In their historical context, tools that we would now consider to be wildly unscientific (like oracles

Science did not spring forth like athena from zeus' head. In their historical context, tools that we would now consider to be wildly unscientific (like oracles to gods or various alchemical practices) were intertwined deeply with scientific practice. It is not unreasonable to draw these kinds of connections in research. I know some people doing interesting work connecting ancient cipher technology with various divination techniques. Just because these techniques don't work doesn't mean that they aren't relevant to understanding why things are the way they are today.