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 Harold J. Cook scrutinizes a wealth of historical documents relating to the study of medicine and natural history in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, Brazil, South Africa, and Asia during this era, and his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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... experience of the world, which has greatly affected how the arguments of this book are presented. It is a collective project in ways I could not have imagined when I first embarked on it, being influenced by profound and sometimes ...
... 1 which the human experience of our own age still exhibits. Worldly. Goods. and. the. Transformations. of. Objectivity. The nutmeg fruit, showing the seed within. Lithograph by C. One Worldly Goods and the Transformations of Objectivity.
... experience of our own age still exhibits elements of the terrors and tragedies, desires and successes, of the first ... experiences and systematically collected information and objects. Diplomats, merchants, and travelers in foreign ...
... Experience. The change of attitude caused by the voyages of discovery is a landmark affecting not only geography and cartography, but the whole of 'natural history.' It led to the a reform of all scientific disciplines—(not only of the ...
... experienced an expansion in disposable income—what is sometimes termed a consumer revolution.30 A large proportion of wealth was, of course, spent on literal consumption, with people ingesting enormous quantities of sugar and spices ...
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 |