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 Harold J. Cook scrutinizes a wealth of historical documents relating to the study of medicine and natural history in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, Brazil, South Africa, and Asia during this era, and his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 75
... according to some accounts was ruled by the wondrous and powerful Christian prince Prester John. Here lived strange people, animals, and plants: priests who stood in hot sands all day looking straight at the sun as well as forest ...
... according to the latest military construction methods and penetrated by four tunnels, closed off the garden from the rest of the (irregularly shaped) grounds while also allowing visitors to walk along its top and look down into the ...
... according to the space allotted. Common sailors and soldiers would bring back anything they could stuff, along with their bedding and clothing, in their duffel bags. People of higher rank, like surgeons, could bring along chests.88 ...
... according to different standards.) The book and its argument proved to be very popular in the sixteenth century. Michel de Montaigne's translation of it into French (the Théologie naturelle of 1569) is the best-known version because of ...
... according to the tenets they were taught by ''serious'' people knew nothing important.108 In such statements, these authors were clearly drawing on a genre of Christian piety that placed the best hope of salvation in the poor and ...
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 |