Athanasius had access to the vast secret archives of the Vatican and was at the center of learning in Rome at the time. He knew many things that are still secret or hidden today.

Much of what he is claimed to have been wrong about is actually correct and will be seen in to be again. Some errors were based on false information. But just proposing theories based on the current knowledge and thinking of the day, created a basis for thought to move forward as more information is found for a more accurate theory. In other words, you have to start somewhere to advance a line of thought.

Also, Athanasius wrote original works defining whole areas of study. In addition to the known sciences, most of his work was on the hidden or occult sciences and his works are still kept by secret societies today.

The mechanical and computing devices he created, almost no one ever learned. But creating those devices demonstrated a practical application of mathematics and science. That is, he created new technology, some still now understood. How many learned scholars have done that?

In the examining of blood under one of the first microscopes, no he likely did not see smaller than large blood cells, but there is such a thing as intuition. First he knew to look, what to look for and then correctly deduced what that meant. The result was the saving of tens of thousands of lives then and from then. How he does not get credit for the germ theory of disease is escapes me (imho).

Not to take anything away from the others. Interesting introductory article.