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 Harold J. Cook scrutinizes a wealth of historical documents relating to the study of medicine and natural history in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, Brazil, South Africa, and Asia during this era, and his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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... century. 2. Netherlands— Commerce—History—17th century. 3. Medicine—Netherlands— History—17th century. I. Title. q127.n2c66 2007 509.492'09032—dc22 2006026973 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. The ...
... centuries bce it was being cultivated in China and India where, in the Indus Valley, followers of Alexander the Great came across it.13 For the ancient Roman ... century found the cane Worldly Goods and the Transformations of Objectivity 9.
... century found the cane grown and its sap refined in Syria and Palestine, and quickly profited by exporting sugar to Venice and other western ports. When the Christian fortresses of the Holy Land were retaken late in the thirteenth century ...
... century low countries produced a remarkably rich and diverse culture. Whereas the Renaissance of the fifteenth century belonged to northern Italy, the sixteenth century's belonged to the low countries. No other region in Europe aside ...
... century) rather than savoir, all of which indicate knowing by acquaintance rather than by reasoning. In other words, what one knows from the senses as filtered by taste and experience has to do with particular instances rather than ...
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 |
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Matters of Exchange: Commerce, Medicine, and Science in the Dutch Golden Age Harold John Cook No preview available - 2007 |