Awards

• Winner of PROSE (Hist Sci/Med/Tech) 2012

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9780226058535

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The history of late eighteenth-century Latin America is often told simply as the Creoles' ever-increasing disenchantment with an unenlightened Mother Spain. Daniela Bleichmar's remarkable book offers us a different history, one in which an Enlightenment study of natural history takes center stage. She casts before the reader passionate and dedicated men of learning and the arts who under Spanish royal sponsorship were entrusted to perform precise observation of the natural fruits of divine creation and render them into splendid and copious scientific illustrations; the results of 'artful looking . . . a barometer of Enlightenment thought.' Bleichmar provides more than just an account of these accomplishments; she wields an interdisciplinary brilliance that melds the best of the history of science, art history, and history and serves up a critical and fascinating examination of Linnean classification, scientific illustration, and their complex intersection, scientific and social, in re

The book is rich in detail and it contains many beautiful examples of botanical illustrations from the eighteenth century. Without a doubt Bleichmar's work is a significant contribution to the history of science and art history. It will be a staple read for anyone interested in natural history and visual culture. --Efram Sera-Shriar, York University, Canada British Journal for the History of Science

Bleichmar uses this vast (and gorgeous) archive of botanical images assembled by Spanish natural history expeditions to explore the connections between natural history, visual culture, and empire in the eighteenth century Hispanic world. In beautifully argued chapters, Bleichmar explores the ways that eighteenth century natural history expeditions were grounded in a visual epistemology where observation and representation were powerful tools for negotiating both scientific and imperial spheres. --Carla Nappi New Books in Science, Technology, and Society

Author Information

Daniela Bleichmar is assistant professor in the Departments of Art History and History at the University of Southern California.

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