I don't know, I think it's more that the Church funded and/or were patrons of various pursuits, of which included scientific pursuits. And being members of the dominant religion of the time and pursuing the sciences doesn't really indicate a necessary dependency of sorts, to me. But I see what you are saying. They had the money and were able to fund those centers of education.
Some things I liked from the episode, the end bit where Neil was recalling his meeting with Sagan at 17. Loved that little story, nice to see how he encouraged him. Take note tv land and movie land, that's how most scientists are, not egomaniacal and hungry for fame, fortune, and glory. Just humble, encouraging, and fascinated/humbled by the wonders in the universe. Screw Walking Dead and Syfy with their dumb idiots being passed off as scientists.
I wonder if they're going to delve into relativity (time dilation and contraction) and quantum stuff. That cosmic time scale thing they did was kinda alright, the analogy with the calendar was a bit much, but if it conveyed a better understanding to some people, then it's cool. Also, I yelled out fuck out loud when I saw Braga's name. Damnit. At least, there are no characters in the show.
I kinda like the ship design. How it rotates and whatnot. But still need more hard science, especially when you're allotted the visual component that you have and budget so as to be able to convey a lot of cool stuff. Would be cool if they show what hydrostatic equilibrium is and Haumea, the elongation it has. How the sun doesn't just explode and the balance/equilibrium it is under, what contributes to it. How certain "particles" in mainstream science are just manifestations of "field" effects and not real particles, just virtual particles. Lots of opportunities. But I get the feeling all the science is being dumbed down on the show and targeting a very specific crowd.