Brook on Vermeer's Hat and the Dawn of Global Trade

Great episode! I'd love to take a class with Professor Brook; alas, I'll have to settle for buying the book.

I thought this podcast was outstanding, integrating economics, art and history. I usually enjoy Econtalk, but this was really rare and wonderful, which is why I had to visit the site and leave a comment.

I strongly recommend listening to the podcast while looking at the paintings at essentialvermeer.com (by the way, some of the paintings have an interactive feature whereby moving the mouse over parts of the image pulls up explanatory paragraphs).

Just one thought: I find it incredible that Columbus had such an atrophied view of geography (did he really?), when in 200BC Eratosthenes had estimated the size of the earth to within 5% of the actual value.

Greetings from Holland. I very much enjoyed this episode of Econ Talk and although the work of Vermeer and the Dutch trade history, including O.I.C. is part of everybody’s school education, Timothy Brook had a few new and fresh insides for me. It may interest you to know that the old city of Delft is still more or less intact and is really worth a visit in case you plan a trip to Europe or Netherlands. The old view on the city is no longer as in the painting (see video in URL), but much of its ancient history has been superbly preserved (I don’t live there, but I visit the city quite regularly). Just wanted you to know this, and if any Econ-listeners plan a visit to Holland this summer, give me a buzz and I’ll try to be of assistance.
Hennie

great interview

here is another with the author

http://www.essentialvermeer.com/interviews_newsletter/brook_interview.html

at a delightful site

http://www.essentialvermeer.com/

It would have been interesting if the interview also touched on the ways that Chinese porcelain styles were incorporated into European artistic techniques. Europeans would eventually start to copy the Chinese and displace them from trade.

Some links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinoiserie
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_and_white_%28porcelain%29

ie

I'm listening to the podcast right now.
If you're fans of the historical period that is being discussed, and into computer games, I recommend the 1999 masterpiece Imperialism II (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperialism_II:_Age_of_Exploration)
And, of course, the 1994 release by Sid Meyer - Colonization - although it is more US-centered, in my opinion.