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 Harold J. Cook scrutinizes a wealth of historical documents relating to the study of medicine and natural history in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, Brazil, South Africa, and Asia during this era, and his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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... Perhaps the reader will indulge me in one last personal comment. Much of the following interpretation of the period rests on trying to understand how passions for goods shaped collective behavior and belief even more than the moral ...
... perhaps three thousand ducats.26 Another consequence of sugar production shifting to the Atlantic and Caribbean was to benefit Antwerp again, which became the main center of sugar refining, with as many as nineteen factories in the city ...
... perhaps ''for the first time.''33 The new goods were therefore imbued with moral qualities—virtues—and could be discussed as examples of human betterment. The possession of objects recognized by others as good ''demonstrated taste more ...
... perhaps even put to use, but not predicted or explained from first principles. So the goods of commerce embodied not only particular moral attributes but particular kinds of knowledge, giving pride of place to the knowledge of the ...
... perhaps even with a moral certainty, but never with an absolute certainty.42 For many kinds of worldly decisions, such as determining a legal case, deciding on whether a financial decision has been a good one or not, giving an account ...
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 |