Eugene Marion Klaaren was a historian and professor of religion. He held a BA from Hope College, an MA from Emory University, a BD from Western Theological Seminary, and a PhD from Harvard University. He then became an Emeritus Professor of Wesleyan University. His book Religious Origins of Modern Science: Belief in Creation in Seventeenth-Century Thought remains "an important one. It is written in a scholarly and fairly dense style but is also accessible to non-specialists." He is noted for his scholarly work on the relationship between religious belief and the development of modern science. His Religious Origins book is based on his PhD thesis: "Belief in creation and the rise of modern science a study in the representative natural philosophy and theology of Robert Boyle and other seventeenth century figures" (1970). Klaaren died in 2015 at the age of 78, survived by his wife of 54 years, Mary.