We tend to be suckers for the 'big men' way of writing history. As we are hard wired to appreciate causality:
X triggers y which revolutionized how we do z and changed the world to our 'current understanding'.
In this case the writer is trying to push a theological, conservative narrative, and Aquinas fits perfectly! Wow!
Otoh one could argue that Aquinas biggest achievement is showing the natural world cannot be explained solely from the bible, thus necessitating less convoluted explanations (Occam's razor) this paving the way for science through falsification.