Ebook: The Reception of Darwinism in the Iberian World: Spain, Spanish America and Brazil

I Twenty-five years ago, at the Conference on the Comparative Reception of Darwinism held at the University of Texas in 1972, only two countries of the Iberian world-Spain and Mexico-were represented.' At the time, it was apparent that the topic had attracted interest only as regarded the "mainstream" science countries of Western Europe, plus the United States. The Eurocentric bias of professional history of science was a fact. The sea change that subsequently occurred in the historiography of science makes 1972 appear something like the antediluvian era. Still, we would like to think that that meeting was prescient in looking beyond the mainstream science countries-as then perceived-in order to test the variation that ideas undergo as they pass from center to periphery. One thing that the comparative study of the reception of ideas makes abundantly clear, however, is the weakness of the center/periphery dichotomy from the perspective of the diffusion of scientific ideas. Catholics in mainstream countries, for example, did not handle evolution much better than did their corre1igionaries on the fringes. Conversely, Darwinians in Latin America were frequently better placed to advance Darwin's ideas in a social and political sense than were their fellow evolutionists on the Continent. The Texas meeting was also a marker in the comparative reception of scientific ideas, Darwinism aside. Although, by 1972, scientific institutions had been studied comparatively, there was no antecedent for the comparative history of scientific ideas.

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Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xii
The Evolutionist Mentality in Argentina: An Ideology of Progress....Pages 1-27
The Reception of Darwinism in Uruguay....Pages 29-52
Biological Evolutionism in Cuba at the end of the Nineteenth Century....Pages 53-64
The Introduction of Darwinism in Brazil....Pages 65-81
Natural History, High-Altitude Physiology and Evolutionary Ideas in Peru....Pages 83-93
Repercussions of Evolutionism in the Spanish Natural History Society....Pages 95-110
Darwinism and Botany....Pages 111-126
Darwinism in Spanish Physical Anthropology....Pages 127-141
The Mexican Eugenics Society....Pages 143-151
Darwinism, Eugenics and Mendelism in Cuban Biological Education: 1900-1959....Pages 153-169
The Theory of Degeneration in Spain (1886-1920)....Pages 171-187
The Moral Economy of Nature....Pages 189-203
“Desvio al Paraiso”: Citizenship and Social Darwinism in Bolivia, 1880-1920....Pages 205-227
The Scientific and Popular Receptions of Darwin, Freud, and Einstein....Pages 229-238
Darwinism: Its Hard Core....Pages 239-261
Back Matter....Pages 263-283

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Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xii
The Evolutionist Mentality in Argentina: An Ideology of Progress....Pages 1-27
The Reception of Darwinism in Uruguay....Pages 29-52
Biological Evolutionism in Cuba at the end of the Nineteenth Century....Pages 53-64
The Introduction of Darwinism in Brazil....Pages 65-81
Natural History, High-Altitude Physiology and Evolutionary Ideas in Peru....Pages 83-93
Repercussions of Evolutionism in the Spanish Natural History Society....Pages 95-110
Darwinism and Botany....Pages 111-126
Darwinism in Spanish Physical Anthropology....Pages 127-141
The Mexican Eugenics Society....Pages 143-151
Darwinism, Eugenics and Mendelism in Cuban Biological Education: 1900-1959....Pages 153-169
The Theory of Degeneration in Spain (1886-1920)....Pages 171-187
The Moral Economy of Nature....Pages 189-203
“Desvio al Paraiso”: Citizenship and Social Darwinism in Bolivia, 1880-1920....Pages 205-227
The Scientific and Popular Receptions of Darwin, Freud, and Einstein....Pages 229-238
Darwinism: Its Hard Core....Pages 239-261
Back Matter....Pages 263-283
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