Like other none-historical anti catolic/christian myths the idea that the early church destroyed or held back the achievements of ancient science is widespread in populare culture with persons like Carl Sagan and movies like Agora.

This video takes that myth apart and shows that the early church did not destroy the ancient scientific achievements but was the one institution that preserevd it throughout
late antiquity and the early medieval period.

Highly recommend you watch it and share your own opinions on the subject in the comment section.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn6XixUJUe8

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QuillInkHistory,

The “Dark Ages” is often used by those opposed to Catholicism, but it is a myth.
SEE: http://www.catholicleague.org/catholicism-and-science/
Catholicism and Science
by Rodney Stark
(from Catalyst 9/2004)
Excerpt:
‘It is the consensus among contemporary historians, philosophers, and sociologists of science that real science arose only once: in Europe. It is instructive that China, Islam, India, ancient Greece, and Rome all had a highly developed alchemy. But only in Europe did alchemy develop into chemistry. By the same token, many societies developed elaborate systems of astrology, but only in Europe did astrology lead to astronomy. And these transformations took place at a time when folklore has it that a fanatical Christianity was imposing a general ignorance on Europe—the so-called Dark Ages.

‘The progress achieved during the “Dark Ages” was not merely technological. Medieval Europe excelled in philosophy and science. The term “Scientific Revolution” is in many ways as misleading as “Dark Ages.” Both were coined to discredit the medieval Church. The notion of a “Scientific Revolution” has been used to claim that science suddenly burst forth when a weakened Christianity could no longer prevent it, and as the recovery of classical learning made it possible. Both claims are as false as those concerning Columbus and the flat earth.’

ALSO: Dr Thomas E Woods, Jr.:
"Western civilization stands indebted to the Church for the university system, charitable work, international law, the sciences, and, important legal principles. … Western civilization owes far more to the Catholic Church than most people — Catholic included — often realize. … The Church, in fact, built Western civilization."
Woods breaks the history of the Church and Western civilization into chapters that treat the Church from its beginning through the so-called Dark Ages up to the present day. He demonstrates that Western institutions, though often originating in Athens and Jerusalem, were developed into a Catholic culture in a process that accelerated from the early Middle Ages right up to the time of the Reformation and the Enlightenment.
[The Church and the Market: A Catholic Defense of the Free Economy (Lanham, Md.; Lexington Books, 2005)].