1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910809116103321

Autore

Cook Harold John

Titolo

Matters of exchange : commerce, medicine, and science in the Dutch Golden Age / / Harold J. Cook

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New Haven, : Yale University Press, c2007

ISBN

1-281-73477-2

9786611734770

0-300-13492-4

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (1 online resource (xiv, 562 p.) ) : ill., maps, ports

Classificazione

NN 4020

Disciplina

509.492/09032

Soggetti

Science - Netherlands - History - 17th century

Medicine - Netherlands - History - 17th century

Netherlands Commerce History 17th century

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 473-535) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Preface -- 1. Worldly Goods and the Transformations of Objectivity -- 2. An Information Economy -- 3. Reformations Tempered -- 4. Commerce and Medicine in Amsterdam -- 5. Truths and Untruths from the Indies -- 6. Medicine and Materialism -- 7. Industry and Analysis -- 8. Gardens of the Indies Transported -- 9. Translating What Works -- 10. The Refusal to Speculate -- 11. Conclusions and Comparisons -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

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 Harold J. Cook scrutinizes a wealth of historical documents relating to the study of medicine and natural history in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, Brazil, South Africa, and Asia during this era, and his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.