scientific/religious "urban legends"

From Mark Kalthoff's review in First Things-- of Ronald Numbers' Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths about Science and Religion...

...the historical sleuthing of eminent science historian Ronald Numbers and his cadre of two-dozen “myth-busters,” we have ample evidence that much received wisdom concerning the historical relations between science and religion has caused real intellectual trouble because it just ain’t so....

The volume’s careful organization and execution reveal the kind of planning and teamwork absent from too many edited collections, but which have come to be expected from Numbers....

Was Galileo imprisoned and tortured for advocating Copernicanism? Of course not...Nor did medieval Christians teach that the earth was flat, nor did Copernicanism demote humans from the middle of the cosmos....