The History of Science in the Netherlands


Book Description

The handbook A History of Science in The Netherlands aims to correct this situation by providing a chronological and thematic survey of the field from the 16th century to the present, essays on selected aspects of science in the Netherlands, and reference biographies of about 65 important Dutch scientists.




A History of Science in the Netherlands


Book Description

In the 400 years of its modern history the Netherlands has produced a distinguished array of eminent mathematicians, scientists and medical researchers including many Nobel-prize winners and other internationally recognised figures, from Stevin, Snel, and Huygens in the 17th century to Lorentz, Kammerlingh Onnes, Buys Ballot, De Vries, de Sitter, and Oort in the 19th and 20th centuries. Yet it has often been noted that the history of science in the Netherlands is underepresented in the international literature. The handbook A History of Science in The Netherlands aims to correct this situation by providing a chronological and thematic survey of the field from the 16th century to the present, essays on selected aspects of science in the Netherlands, and reference biographies of about 65 important Dutch scientists. Written by more than 10 experts from Europe and North America, the handbook is the standard English-language reference work for the field.




Dutch Messengers


Book Description

In this pioneering work, based upon interviews with many of the surviving protagonists, Cornelis ('Cees') Andriesse tells the story of the role that Dutch publishing houses played in the rise of English language commercial science publishing after the Second World War, that was preceded by the decline of science publishing in German. Using the existing literature as well as many privately held archival sources, the author follows the fortunes of the leading publishers, Martinus Nijhoff, Elsevier and North Holland while also briefly discussing smaller houses like Dr. W. Junk and Reidel. The book contains lively portraits of the main characters involved and will no doubt stimulate further research and discussion of the role of publishing in the history of science. The authorsa (TM) main thesis that successful publishing requires a strong, fruitful partnership between an academic publisher and an academic editor, will no doubt convince most readers. This is a great book on the most productive friendships and partnerships in the history of science publishing.




Matters of Exchange


Book Description

Presents evidence that Dutch commerce, not religion, inspired the rise of science in the 16th and 17th centuries. Scrutinises many historical documents relating to the study of medicine and natural history during this era, showing direct links between commerce and trade, and the flourishing of scientific investigation.




Empire and Science in the Making


Book Description

Drawing on extensive new research, and bringing much new scholarship before English readers for the first time, this wide-ranging volume examines how knowledge was created and circulated throughout the Dutch Empire, and how these processes compared with those of the Imperial Britain, Spain, and Russia.




Dutch Cartesianism and the Birth of Philosophy of Science


Book Description

How did the relations between philosophy and science evolve during the 17th and the 18th century? This book analyzes this issue by considering the history of Cartesianism in Dutch universities, as well as its legacy in the 18th century. It takes into account the ways in which the disciplines of logic and metaphysics became functional to the justification and reflection on the conceptual premises and the methods of natural philosophy, changing their traditional roles as art of reasoning and as science of being. This transformation took place as a result of two factors. First, logic and metaphysics (which included rational theology) were used to grant the status of indubitable knowledge of natural philosophy. Second, the debates internal to Cartesianism, as well as the emergence of alternative philosophical world-views (such as those of Hobbes, Spinoza, the experimental science and Newtonianism) progressively deprived such disciplines of their foundational function, and they started to become forms of reflection over given scientific practices, either Cartesian, experimental, or Newtonian.




Innocence Abroad


Book Description

Innocence Abroad explores the encounter between the Netherlands and the New World in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.




The Cambridge History of Science: Volume 8, Modern Science in National, Transnational, and Global Context


Book Description

This volume in the highly respected Cambridge History of Science series is devoted to exploring the history of modern science using national, transnational, and global frames of reference. Organized by topic and culture, its essays by distinguished scholars offer the most comprehensive and up-to-date nondisciplinary history of modern science currently available. Essays are grouped together in separate sections that represent larger regions: Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, East and Southeast Asia, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Oceania, and Latin America. Each of these regional groupings ends with a separate essay reflecting on the analysis in the preceding chapters. Intended to provide a balanced and inclusive treatment of the modern world, contributors analyze the history of science not only in local, national, and regional contexts but also with respect to the circulation of knowledge, tools, methods, people, and artifacts across national borders.




Technology and the Making of The Netherlands


Book Description

An account of the trajectory of modernization through technology in the Netherlands.




Commercial Visions


Book Description

Entrepreneurial science is not new; business interests have strongly influenced science since the Scientific Revolution. In Commercial Visions, Dániel Margócsy illustrates that product marketing, patent litigation, and even ghostwriting pervaded natural history and medicine—the “big sciences” of the early modern era—and argues that the growth of global trade during the Dutch Golden Age gave rise to an entrepreneurial network of transnational science. Margócsy introduces a number of natural historians, physicians, and curiosi in Amsterdam, London, St. Petersburg, and Paris who, in their efforts to boost their trade, developed modern taxonomy, invented color printing and anatomical preparation techniques, and contributed to philosophical debates on topics ranging from human anatomy to Newtonian optics. These scientific practitioners, including Frederik Ruysch and Albertus Seba, were out to do business: they produced and sold exotic curiosities, anatomical prints, preserved specimens, and atlases of natural history to customers all around the world. Margócsy reveals how their entrepreneurial rivalries transformed the scholarly world of the Republic of Letters into a competitive marketplace. Margócsy’s highly readable and engaging book will be warmly welcomed by anyone interested in early modern science, global trade, art, and culture.