Ronald Numbers has recruited the leading scholars in this new history of science to ­puncture the myths, from Galileo's incarceration to Darwin's deathbed conversion to Einstein's belief in a personal God who "didn't play dice with the universe." Each chapter in Galileo Goes to Jail shows how much we have to gain by seeing beyond the myths.

Myth 2. That the Medieval Christian Church Suppressed the Growth of Science Myth 3. That Medieval Christians Taught That the Earth Was Flat Myth 4. That Medieval Islamic Culture Was Inhospitable to Science Myth 12. That Ren? Descartes Originated the Mind- Body Distinction Myth 16. That Evolution Destroyed Darwin's Faith in Christianity--Until He Reconverted on His Deathbed Myth 21. That Einstein Believed in a Personal God Myth 25. That Modern Science Has Secularized Western Culture