1700s
18th century
A01=Neil Safier
academic
Age Group_Uncategorized
Age Group_Uncategorized
amazon river
astronomy
Author_Neil Safier
automatic-update
Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=PDX
colonialism
COP=United States
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
earth
ecuador
enlightenment
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_science
europe
european
expedition
explorer
geographical
geography
historical
history
intellectual
interdisciplinary
knowledge
Language_English
maps
PA=Available
paris academy of sciences
Price_€20 to €50
PS=Active
region
regional
research
scholarly
science
scientific
scientist
softlaunch
south america
transatlantic
Product details
- ISBN 9780226733623
- Weight: 624g
- Dimensions: 16 x 23mm
- Publication Date: 14 Jun 2012
- Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
- Language: English
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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.
Neil Safier is associate professor of history at the University of British Columbia.
