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 Harold J. Cook scrutinizes a wealth of historical documents relating to the study of medicine and natural history in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, Brazil, South Africa, and Asia during this era, and his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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... knowledge, which cannot but sustain some faith in human sociability and wisdom. Above all, I received enormous help and encouragement from Dutch friends and colleagues, most especially Antonie Luyendijk-Elshout; Harm, Gemmie, and Saskia ...
... knowledge economy had consequences for the content of science.1 By looking at the rise of science in this way, we can clearly see that, as many contemporaries themselves acknowledged, the new philosophy arose not from disembodied minds ...
... knowledge to grand men who asked them for it. Medical practitioners of many kinds made and sold medicines, sometimes chemically prepared, or offered advice about health and sickness rooted in their knowledge of nature. Gardening ...
... knowledge, meaning that people throughout the world also contributed to the growth of what we now call science, sometimes through mutually beneficial interactions, sometimes by appropriation or coercion. Unfortunately, Dutch history has ...
... knowledge of how to examine the pulse; it emphasizes the difficulties of transmitting some kinds of knowledge across cultural barriers whereas other kinds of information could flow easily. The penultimate chapter, focusing mainly on the ...
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 |