Matters of Exchange: Commerce, Medicine, and Science in the Dutch Golden AgeA new and unexpected history of the Dutch pursuit of commerce in the 16th and 17th centuries and how it triggered the Scientific Revolution In this wide-ranging and stimulating book, a leading authority on the history of medicine and science presents convincing evidence that Dutch commerce—not religion—inspired the rise of science in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Harold J. Cook scrutinizes a wealth of historical documents relating to the study of medicine and natural history in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, Brazil, South Africa, and Asia during this era, and his conclusions are fresh and exciting. He uncovers direct links between the rise of trade and commerce in the Dutch Empire and the flourishing of scientific investigation. Cook argues that engaging in commerce changed the thinking of Dutch citizens, leading to a new emphasis on such values as objectivity, accumulation, and description. The preference for accurate information that accompanied the rise of commerce also laid the groundwork for the rise of science globally, wherever the Dutch engaged in trade. Medicine and natural history were fundamental aspects of this new science, as reflected in the development of gardens for both pleasure and botanical study, anatomical theaters, curiosity cabinets, and richly illustrated books about nature. Sweeping in scope and original in its insights, this book revises previous understandings of the history of science and ideas. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 66
... Clusius, Paulus Hermann, and Isaac and Jan Commelin; naturalists and physicians working in the East Indies like Jacobus Bontius, Georgius Everhardus Rumphius, Hendrik Adriaan van Reede, and Willem ten Rhijne, or those resident in The ...
... Clusius and Paludanus, and the founding of the university of Leiden and its medical faculty and botanical garden. The ways in which commerce affected medical practice and knowledge, even anatomical investigations, with special reference ...
... Clusius (Charles de l'Escluse); the Italians remained almost too numerous to notice. Just beneath the surface of this excitement about the diversity of the world lay theological problems, but they had mainly been tamed. Simply reveling ...
... clusius, Aromatum, et simplicium aliquot medicamentorum The ways of knowing that surrounded objectivity established highly probable facts despite a world in constant change. This appreciation for things and their descriptions gave ...
... Clusius saw one for himself. In 1569, Clusius also obtained tulip seeds from Busbecq, acquired during Busbecq's residence in Turkey.127 Clusius was enthralled with the diversity of form and color of the flowers exhibited by this species ...
Contents
1 | |
42 | |
82 | |
Four Commerce and Medicine in Amsterdam | 133 |
Five Truths and Untruths from the Indies | 175 |
Descartes in the Republic | 226 |
Seven Industry and Analysis | 267 |
Eight Gardens of the Indies Transported | 304 |
The Medicine of East Asia | 339 |
Sticking to Simple Things | 378 |
Eleven Conclusions and Comparisons | 410 |
Notes | 417 |
Bibliography | 473 |
Index | 537 |
Other editions - View all
Matters of Exchange: Commerce, Medicine, and Science in the Dutch Golden Age Harold John Cook No preview available - 2007 |