The Beginnings of Western Science, subtitled The European Scientific Tradition in Philosophical, Religious, and Institutional Context, 600 B.C.

[9] The book has found wide acclaim and is considered a good general introduction to the history of science in the West before the Renaissance.

Next, possible precursors to science are treated in the forms of knowledge prehistoric societies and theories about the notions of truth that would apply in such cultures.

[10] Greek science first covers the philosophies of the pre-Socratics, Plato and Aristotle, after which the narrative continues with the Hellenistic philosophical schools, the Academy, the Lyceum, the Epicureans and the Stoics.

"[12] Vivian Nutton considered the work "solid and accurate", but lamented Lindberg's traditional choice of subject matter.

He besides thought that his limited inclusion of late medieval scientists, particularly in the field of medicine, hurt his argument to stress discontinuity with the renaissance era.

[16] Angela Smith considered the second edition of The Beginnings of Western Science a substantial success and thought it "a fundamental and reliable resource for many years to come".

Jamil Ragep calls it "a fine book, the culmination of a century of distinguished research on premodern European science" but also contends that the second edition still has a Eurocentric bias.