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 Harold J. Cook scrutinizes a wealth of historical documents relating to the study of medicine and natural history in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, Brazil, South Africa, and Asia during this era, and his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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... to the changes that were the same throughout Europe as well as England and vowed to myself to explore them further. Although I had access to plenty of comparative material for France, a comment of a former professor, James Allen. xi ...
... further. Yet the old ambition of composing a work of history not torn apart by dividing the world into a conceptual part and all the rest remains. One of the key terms for seeing how such a history might work is what early modern people ...
... further helped me understand some things about early modern 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 ...
... further explores the intellectual values of the Dutch merchants' information economy. They are followed by an account of why invoking religion or the Reformation to explain the rise of science—as is often done—is inadequate, by ...
... further to the southeast, ''the Indies,'' were a region of even more wonders and of fabulous wealth. Marco Polo never got there, although he reported that reliable pilots and seamen said that 7,448 islands were to be found in the Indies ...
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 |