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 Harold J. Cook scrutinizes a wealth of historical documents relating to the study of medicine and natural history in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, Brazil, South Africa, and Asia during this era, and his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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... Italy. It was especially because of commerce that its people prospered. Goods sent from the Mediterranean to the North Sea or the Baltic often traveled through this region. Near the coast, goods brought by river could be put aboard ...
... Italy, the sixteenth century's belonged to the low countries. No other region in Europe aside from northern Italy contained as many towns and cities. By the mid-sixteenth century Antwerp had developed into the second most important ...
... Italians, particularly, modeled themselves on their Roman ancestors, whose remains were all around them, collecting ... Italy, the erudite Leon Battista Alberti argued that possessions, including impressive buildings and beautiful books ...
... Italy, developed an important commentary based on Ruelle's edition, adding an alphabetical lexicon of about two ... Italian Alps, were the most important, although rival experts continued to disagree vociferously about the details of his ...
... Italians took a keen interest in having a classically styled garden as part of a great house. The founder of Italian humanism, Petrarch, made a point of situating many literary conversations in gardens, while Giovanni Boccaccio set his ...
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 |