"Thinking people do not look to scientific texts for spiritual advice, and neither do they look to scripture for scientific facts."
I've met lots of "thinking people" who have developed their moral and (so called) spiritual facts based on scientific exploration while decrying scripture as a hoax.
One does not look in the Standard Handbook of Engineering Calculations for advice on how to deal with a difficult marriage. However, if you want to determine the propert pipe wall thickness for certain pressures and fluid velocties, then you'll be looking in the right place.