Overview

Highlighting the relationship among science, politics, and culture in Latin American history Challenging the common view that Latin America has lagged behind Europe and North America in the global history of science, this volume reveals that the region has long been a center for scientific innovation and imagination. It highlights the important relationship among science, politics, and culture in Latin American history. Scholars from a variety of fields including literature, sociology, and geography bring to light many of the cultural exchanges that have produced and spread scientific knowledge from the early colonial period to the present day. Among many topics, these essays describe ideas on health and anatomy in a medical text from sixteenth-century Mexico, how fossil discoveries in Patagonia inspired new interpretations of the South American landscape, and how Argentinian physicist Rolando García influenced climate change research and the field of epistemology. Through its interdisciplinary approach, Geopolitics, Culture, and the Scientific Imaginary in Latin America shows that such scientific advancements fueled a series of visionary utopian projects throughout the region, as countries grappling with the legacy of colonialism sought to modernize and to build national and regional identities.

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9781683403876

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Reviews

This multidisciplinary, well-researched work is an excellent contribution to the fields of cultural studies and Latin American studies. --Choice Wonderful and imaginative. . . . An exciting new addition to the literature. --New Books Network The humanities, including language, literature, and history, have increasingly provided valuable insights on the relationships between science, society, and creative work. This book adds significantly to our appreciation of these connections in the Latin American context, including multiple countries and time periods. --Journal of Latin American Geography Excels above all in its capacity to inspire further work on the raised issues. . . . The book does not shy away from the challenge of digging deeper and redeeming forgotten or unknown figures and episodes in the history of Latin American science and culture, which is the reason why it is highly recommended for a broad readership. --Tapuya: Latin American Science, Technology and Society

Author Information

María del Pilar Blanco is associate professor of Spanish American literature and fellow and tutor in Spanish at Trinity College, University of Oxford. She is the author of Ghost-Watching American Modernity: Haunting, Landscape, and the Hemispheric Imagination. Joanna Page is a Reader in Latin American literature and visual culture at the University of Cambridge. She is the author of several books, including Creativity and Science in Contemporary Argentine Literature: Between Romanticism and Formalism.

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