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 Harold J. Cook scrutinizes a wealth of historical documents relating to the study of medicine and natural history in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, Brazil, South Africa, and Asia during this era, and his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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... Japan, while many more recent friends have introduced me to other parts of Asia and Europe. My colleagues and students in Madison, Wisconsin, and the dean of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Phil Farrell ...
... Japan to produce one of the earliest European analyses of acupuncture and moxibustion, and a translation of some works on Chinese knowledge of how to examine the pulse; it emphasizes the difficulties of transmitting some kinds of ...
... Japan, connecting places like Zanzibar and Basra to the Coromandel coast, Java, the Banda Islands, Indochina, and the east China seas. Vasco da Gama depended on North African merchants to act as his intermediaries, but the embarrassing ...
... Japan, the VOC was also able to establish a factory there in 1609, competing directly with the Portuguese and Spaniards.89 Many of the VOC's early successes came because its internal organization— unique for the time—gave it new ...
... Japan and China) turns up at auction sales in 1651–52, and coffee (cauwa de Mocha) in 1661–62, about a decade after they first started to be brought back The four continents making offerings to Amsterdam, who holds a 66 An Information ...
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 |