Hannam, James

James Hannam is a British historian of science who earned his PhD from the University of Cambridge, focusing on the history of medieval science. His most significant contribution to scholarship is "God's Philosophers: How the Medieval World Laid the Foundations of Modern Science" (2009), which challenges the widespread misconception that the Middle Ages were a period of scientific stagnation dominated by religious obscurantism. Hannam demonstrates how medieval natural philosophers, working within a Christian theological framework, made crucial advances in mathematics, physics, and astronomy that directly influenced the Scientific Revolution. His work illuminates the productive relationship between medieval theology and scientific inquiry, showing how scholastic thinkers like Thomas Aquinas, Jean Buridan, and Nicole Oresme developed sophisticated theories about motion, impetus, and the mathematical analysis of change. By documenting the medieval Church's support for natural philosophy and universities, Hannam's scholarship has significantly revised understanding of how Christian theology shaped the emergence of modern science.