▁ ▁Most ▁scientific ▁inqu iry ▁came ▁to ▁be ▁based ▁on ▁information ▁g lean ed ▁from ▁sources ▁which ▁were ▁often ▁incomplete ▁and ▁pos ed ▁serious ▁problems ▁of ▁interpretation . ▁ ▁Latin - spe akers ▁who ▁wanted ▁to ▁learn ▁about ▁science ▁only ▁had ▁access ▁to ▁books ▁by ▁such ▁Roman ▁writers ▁as ▁Cal cid ius , ▁Mac rob ius , ▁Mart ian us ▁Cap ella , ▁Bo eth ius , ▁Cass iod orus , ▁and ▁later ▁Latin ▁en cyc loped ists . ▁ ▁Much ▁had ▁to ▁be ▁g lean ed ▁from ▁non - s cient ific ▁sources : ▁Roman ▁surve ying ▁manual s ▁were ▁read ▁for ▁what ▁geometry ▁was ▁included . ▁ ▁De - urban ization ▁reduced ▁the ▁scope ▁of ▁education ▁and ▁by ▁the ▁ 6 th ▁century ▁teaching ▁and ▁learning ▁moved ▁to ▁mon astic ▁and ▁c athedral ▁schools , ▁with ▁the ▁center ▁of ▁education ▁being ▁the ▁study ▁of ▁the ▁Bible . ▁ ▁Education ▁of ▁the ▁la ity ▁surv ived ▁mod est ly ▁in ▁Italy , ▁Spain , ▁and ▁the ▁southern ▁part ▁of ▁Ga ul , ▁where ▁Roman ▁influ ences ▁were ▁most ▁long - last ing . ▁ ▁In ▁the ▁ 7 th ▁century , ▁learning ▁began ▁to ▁emer ge ▁in ▁Ireland ▁and ▁the ▁C elt ic ▁lands , ▁where ▁Latin ▁was ▁a ▁foreign ▁language ▁and ▁Latin ▁texts ▁were ▁eager ly ▁studied ▁and ▁taught . ▁ ▁The ▁leading ▁sch ol ars ▁of ▁the ▁early ▁centuries ▁were ▁cl erg ymen ▁for ▁whom ▁the ▁study ▁of ▁nature ▁was ▁but ▁a ▁small ▁part ▁of ▁their ▁interest . ▁ ▁They