[UncleOxidant]

I'm not sure I follow the connection here:

> only a polytheistic tradition (such as Athens) can breed a love of natural beauty which obligates a love of knowing its ways.

None of the people in your list below were polytheists:

> Galileo, Descartes, Newton

[achillesheels]

They were principally moved by Aristotle, however. First by Galileo falsifying him. Further, the development of analytical geometry and calculus necessitated the Greek polytheistic “infatuation” with geometry.