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 Harold J. Cook scrutinizes a wealth of historical documents relating to the study of medicine and natural history in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, Brazil, South Africa, and Asia during this era, and his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 84
... Dutch and the history of the early modern Dutch Republic. One early result was a study of a well-educated Dutch physician who moved to London and had initial success only later to be charged with malpractice for the use of a new remedy ...
... Dutch friends and colleagues, most especially Antonie Luyendijk-Elshout; Harm, Gemmie, and Saskia Beukers; and Toon and Tip Kerkhoff, who all patiently taught me an enormous amount about their country and its history while making me and ...
... Dutch Republic, even waged wars abroad in their own right. As they and their associates gained a dominant position in their own worlds, the matters they valued most, whether material goods, social manners, cultural symbols, or ...
... Dutch world more generally. By the middle of the seventeenth century, the Dutch seaborne empire had become the most extensive in the world, while the Dutch had at the same time become acknowledged leaders in many areas of medicine and ...
... Dutch merchants' information economy. They are followed by an account of why invoking religion or the Reformation to explain the rise of science—as is often done—is inadequate, by sketching in the innovative work of naturalists such as ...
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 |