I'm reading a book called "Was the world created all by itself?" with several scientists being interviewed.

The first is Trinh Xuan Thruan.

He says this: our ancestors, observing what's around them, created myths and any natural phenomenon was the consequence of gods' actions, their wars, loves, etc...
Then, 6 centuries BC, the Greeks got the idea that natural phenomenons can be understood without relying on gods, but by laws that human reason can apprehend. Because gods impose laws and nature follows them, then humans should be able to measure them. This quest is what we know by science.
The Chinese had no concept for a watch-maker god, while Europeans did and only Europeans tried to understand the laws made by the watch-maker gods, by reducing what they observed into small bits which enabled science to evolve.
Because nature is complex, simplifying it made it accessible to more people.