Why did the Scientific Revolution occur in Europe rather than in China or
the Islamic world?
First, Europe's had unusually autonomous universities in which scholars could pursue their studies in relative freedom from the dictates of the church or state authorities. Western Europe was in a position to draw extensively upon the knowledge of other cultures, especially that of the Islamic world. Additionally, the Age of Exploration shook up older ways of thinking and opened the way to new conceptions of the world.
On the other hand, in the Islamic world, philosophy and natural science were viewed with great suspicion by the ulama. In China, education focused on preparing for a rigidly defined set of civil service examinations and emphasized the humanistic and moral texts of classical Confucianism.
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