This article needs a major overhaul. It has become 92 Kb long, and sections which should be summaries of their main articles have become bloated unreferenced morasses thanks to POV-pushing.
The way I see it, the "Development of science" should sketch the development of science as a whole (theories, methodologies, etc), rather than individual fields. Each section should treat the contribution to that development by a culture or civilisation. The following structure for each section should be sufficiently balanced to cover the main angles, and yet prevent undue emphasis on any single section:
- Technological / mathematical contributions. These areas are both distinct from science — numerous "pre-scientific" cultures were highly advanced with regard to technology and mathematics — yet some degree of both were necessary for the overall development of science.
- Contributions to methodology
- Specific scientific discoveries
- Reasons why science did / did not develop