Why was math considered incompatible with empirical science?

Question

At the dawn of the modern scientifc era (late 1500s) most of the leading thinkers considered the use of mathematics to be adding a "mystical" element to what thay desired to be purely objective methodology. Can this be explained?

Source: Hugh Kearney's book "Science and Change 1500 to 1700"

Answer 1

Empirical science is about studying the results of a phenomenon and postulating the cause of those results. Math is fundamentally different, you begin with a theory then postulate a result.

Answer 2

My guess ... "empirical science" was homegrown ... people started figuring out how to do things in better ways. A lot of that was observational and intuitive.

Much mathematics came from the ancient Greeks. But for a millennium, that stuff wasn't available in the West ... it was reintroduced from the Arab world. And Greek mathematics was a cerebral exercise.

So when you put these two together circa 1500, you get what you wrote.