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 Harold J. Cook scrutinizes a wealth of historical documents relating to the study of medicine and natural history in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, Brazil, South Africa, and Asia during this era, and his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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... natural objects—grew into what came to be called ''the new philosophy'' of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The aspect of the modern world explored most fully is, then, sometimes called ''the rise of modern science,'' or ''the ...
... natural history in the Dutch East and West Indies, centered on the work of the physician Bontius, illustrate how matters of fact were gathered, transformed, and exchanged as part of a worldwide commercial network. But new methods of ...
... natural things are. To put it more technically, proponents of the new science rejected teleology—arguing that nothing would come from trying to understand the purposes intended by nature or God —instead, they valued the search for exact ...
... natural philosophy from the Renaissance. One of the most important problems solved by kennen was the decoding of the handwriting and words in ancient manuscripts. Antique manuscripts were one of the first kinds of possessions to be ...
... natural things (res naturae), a subject called ''natural history.'' The term borrowed from the Greek word historia, which meant ''a learning by inquiry'' or ''the knowledge or information so acquired.''50 Natural history was, therefore ...
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 |