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ISBN: PB: 9780226733623

ISBN: HB: 9780226733555

University of Chicago Press

June 2012

428 pp.

23x15 cm

59 halftones, 20 colour illus.

PB:
£26,00
QTY:
HB:
£52,00
QTY:

Categories:

Measuring the New World

Enlightenment Science and South America

Prior to 1735, South America was terra incognita to many Europeans. But that year, the Paris Academy of Sciences sent a mission to the Spanish American province of Quito (in present-day Ecuador) to study the curvature of the earth at the Equator. Equipped with quadrants and telescopes, the mission's participants referred to the transfer of scientific knowledge from Europe to the Andes as a "sacred fire" passing mysteriously through European astronomical instruments to observers in South America.

By taking an innovative interdisciplinary look at the traces of this expedition, "Measuring the New World" examines the transatlantic flow of knowledge from West to East. Through ephemeral monuments and geographical maps, this book explores how the social and cultural worlds of South America contributed to the production of European scientific knowledge during the Enlightenment. Neil Safier uses the notebooks of traveling philosophers, as well as specimens from the expedition, to place this particular scientific endeavor in the larger context of early modern print culture and the emerging intellectual category of scientist as author.

About the Author

Neil Safier is associate professor of history at the University of British Columbia.

Reviews

Society for French Historical Studies: Gilbert Chinard Prize – Won


"A deft, thoughtful examination of what happened to European Enlightenment science in an American setting, and of how South America was depicted in Europe as a result of this exploration. What makes Safier's book stand out... is the way in which he masterfully expands the range of sites, practices and participants. This is not the story of an expedition, but rather a study of the stories the expedition yielded through words and images" – Daniela Bleichmar, American Scientist

"'Measuring the New World' beautifully dissects the 'social and material practices that comprise' what Safier calls 'transatlantic scientific commemorations'. We are fortunate that the University of Chicago Press has produced a book with some 20 color plates and nearly 60 figures that wonderfully illustrate and illuminate Safier's sophisticated arguments. We are indebted to Safier for helping enlighten scholars of both Europe and the Americas on the role of the New World in the construction of modern science and the European Enlightenment" – Marshall C. Eakin, The Americas