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 Harold J. Cook scrutinizes a wealth of historical documents relating to the study of medicine and natural history in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, Brazil, South Africa, and Asia during this era, and his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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... 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 ...
... objects. Diplomats, merchants, and travelers in foreign lands took careful note of what they saw and sent back specimens. Apothecaries eagerly accumulated information about the goods that passed through their shops, displayed strange ...
... objects in their homes, civic leaders attended public anatomy demonstrations, the poor entered hospitals in which they might receive experimental treatment or surgery, and almost everyone seemed to be consuming larger amounts of fine ...
... objects, and how such values shaped priorities for knowing about nature; a second chapter further explores the intellectual values of the Dutch merchants' information economy. They are followed by an account of why invoking religion or ...
... objects and specimens. What this book takes up that Sarton and his like did not, then, are two underlying questions. Why did an enormous amount of personal time and effort, and economic and other resources, come to be devoted to seeking ...
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 |