It was all Galileo's fault.
I think it came directly from the pre-Socratic Greek Philosophers. Somehow it survived Plato, the Romans and the Christians; then Galileo and the English resurrected it from the writings preserved by the Arabs.
But I do agree that it was only sheer chance that allowed scientific method to arise, it never happened in China or in Arabia or in Egypt or anywhere else. We just got lucky.
That's my spin, spin, spin on it.