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 Harold J. Cook scrutinizes a wealth of historical documents relating to the study of medicine and natural history in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, Brazil, South Africa, and Asia during this era, and his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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... country and its history while making me and my wife, Faye, feel entirely welcome. Hisa Kuriyama further helped me understand some things about early modern Japan, while many more recent friends have introduced me to other parts of Asia ...
... countries of the merchants. But it had enormous consequences for how most people of affairs, even university professors, came to understand the ways of nature, for it changed the terms of reference for intellectual investigation. Like ...
... countries or ''netherlands'' comprised the northern remnant of the old Middle Kingdom carved out of Charlemagne's empire. The name came from a landscape offew promontories and many wide patches of soggy earth and bog, a region in many ...
... countries be cut and dried for domestic and commercial heat, while water-laden pastures harbored cattle, enabling a large net export of meat and cheese. The soils even allowed for growing oats and barley in quantity (although not much ...
... 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 from northern ...
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 |