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 Harold J. Cook scrutinizes a wealth of historical documents relating to the study of medicine and natural history in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, Brazil, South Africa, and Asia during this era, and his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
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... Descartes in the Republic 226 seven Industry and Analysis 267 eight Gardens of the Indies Transported 304 nine Translating What Works: The Medicine of East Asia 339 ten The Refusal to Speculate: Sticking to Simple Things 378 eleven ...
... Descartes, and Benedict Spinoza; anatomists such as Drs. Nicolaes Tulp, Regnier de Graaf, Jan Swammerdam, and Frederik Ruysch. Yet the discovery of the world did not take place in libraries or lecture halls alone, nor only among people ...
... Descartes were changed by his long residence in the Dutch Republic, during which he studied anatomy at great length ... Descartes's work for their own analyses of politics and ethics illustrates some of the consequences of such studies ...
... Descartes, who traveled widely in Europe in his youth and lived outside France for most of his adult life, wrote, ''I have recognized through my travels that those with views quite contrary to ours are not on that account barbarians or ...
... Descartes, both natural philosophers and musicians could take the uniform nature of time for granted, ''timing'' events according to regularized beats.61 As Norbert Elias put it, ''The significance of the emergence of the concept of ...
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 |