Abstract
Notwithstanding the extremely difficult overall situation and the US blockade and aggression, from the very outset of the victory of the revolution the youthful Cuban leadership showed amazing lucidity and tenacity in their resolutely determination to develop the education, science and health spheres. Their conscious though admittedly ambitious goal was to prepare “a future of men of science” for Cuba. This effort started with a widespread literacy campaign, including the universal right to free education at all levels and a university reform conceived so as to foster scientific research. Seeking and welcoming every source of support and collaboration, from both Soviet and western scientists and institutions, and resorting to their typical inventiveness, from the early 1960s on the Cubans succeeded in laying the foundations for advanced scientific development. In determining the path of this development, every effort of the Cuban leadership and scientific community was driven by the primary purpose of meeting the basic economic and social needs of the country, freeing it from the chains of underdevelopment. The outcomes of these choices were to emerge with surprising swiftness, not only in fields of immediate impact, such as medicine and health, but also with long-term strategic foresight regarding what would be required for future development.
I do not conceive of any manifestation of culture, of science, of art, as purposes in themselves. I think the purpose of science and culture is man. [In G. Barry Golson ed., The Playboy Interview, Interview with Fidel Castro, New York, Playboy Press, 1981, 254]
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
See e.g. the interview to the emeritus professor of physics of the University of Havana, Melquíades De Dios: Olimpia Arias De Fuente, An interview with professor Melquíades De Dios Leyva, December 2008, in Baracca et al. 2014b, pp. 285–288.
- 2.
Consejo Superior de Universidades 1962. La reforma de la enseñanza superior en Cuba. Havana: Colección Documentos.
- 3.
Previously, the Faculty of Sciences was subdivided into three Sections: Ciencias Físico-Matemáticas, Ciencias Físico-Químicas, and Ciencias Naturales, whose task was the preparation of High School teachers.
- 4.
In France there was a strong left wing tradition in physics, starting from Fredéric Joliot Curie, continuing with Jean-Pierre Vigier, who was an active supporter of communism throughout his life, and played an important role in promoting the collaborations with Cuba. French physicists promoted coordinate actions in support to the efforts by the Cuban scientists, physicists in particular, to promote the technical scientific development of the country, see also Chap. 4.
- 5.
Fernando Crespo, Elena Vigil, Dina Waisman: “Sobre los primeros resultados en diodos de germanio obtenidos por aleación”, Conferencia Química de Oriente, Santiago de Cuba, February 1968.
- 6.
Dr. Daniel Stolik, professor of the Faculty of Physics of the University of Havana, and former Director of the previous School of Physics, personal communication.
- 7.
See for instance Y. Daley, Cuba’s lost Art Schools: An American unearths some truly revolutionary architecture. Stanford Magazine. September/October 2000. https://alumni.stanford.edu/get/page/magazine/article/?article_id=39904 (last access March 15, 2016). However, in 1999, by initiative of Fidel Castro, the three architects were invited to come back to Havana to finish the building, although priorities had changed, and due to financial shortages the work proceeds slowly: see Arquitectura de la Revolución Cubana: Escuelas de Arte, http://www.taringa.net/posts/imagenes/1100467/Arquitectura-de-la-Revolucion-Cubana---Escuelas-de-Arte.html (last access March 15, 2016).
- 8.
John George Diefenbaker was the 13th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 21, 1957, to April 22, 1963.
- 9.
As we mentioned in the previous chapter, a Real Academia de Ciencias, Médicas, Físicas y Naturales de la Habana (Royal Academy of Medical, Physical and Natural Sciences of Havana) was created in 1861. After the establishment of the Republic in 1902, the adjective “Real” was eliminated. In 1962 the new Academy for the first time acquired a national dimension and an effective role.
References
Altshuler J (2006) Para una historia de las ciencias físicas y técnicas en Cuba. Editorial Científico-Técnica, Havana
Baracca A, Fajer Avila VL, Rodríguez Castellanos C (2006) A look at physics in Cuba. Phys Today 59(9):42–48
Baracca A, Fajer Avila VL, Rodríguez Castellanos C (2014a) A comprehensive study of the development of Physics in Cuba from 1959 (Baracca A, Renn J, Wendt H, eds), pp 115–234
Baracca A, Renn J, Wendt H (eds) (2014b) The history of physics in Cuba. Springer, Berlin
Castro, F. (1960) El Futuro de nuestra Patria tiene que ser necesariamente un Futuro de Hombres de Ciencia. National Agrarian Reform Institute (INRA), Havana
Clark Arxer I (1999) 138 Años de la Academia de Ciencias de Cuba: Visión de la Ciencia y del Proceso Histórico Cubano. Editorial Academia, Havana
Cooper RS, Kennelly JF, Orduñez-García P (2006) Health in Cuba. Int J Epidemiol 35(4):817–824
Feinsilver JM (2006) La Diplomacia Medica Cubana: Cuando La Izquierda Lo Ha Hecho Bien. Foreign Affairs 6(4):81–94 (English transl: Cuban Medical Diplomacy: When the Left Has Got It Right http://www.coha.org/cuban-medical-diplomacy-when-the-left-has-got-it-right/. Last Access 15 Mar 2016
Hamilton N (1992) The Cuban economy. Dilemmas of socialist construction. In Chaffee WA, Prevost G (eds) Cuba. A different America. Boston: Rowman/Littlefield, pp 36–54
Kellner D (1989) Ernesto “Che” Guevara (World Leaders Past & Present). Chelsea House Publishers, Library Binding edition
Lage A (2009) Transforming cancer indicators begs bold new strategies from biotechnology. MEDICC Rev 11(3):8–12
Lantigua Cruz A, González Lucas N (2009) Development of medical genetics in Cuba: thirty nine years of experience in the formation of human resources. Rev Cubana Genet Commun [internet] 3(2):3–23. http://bvs.sld.cu/revistas/rcgc/v3n2_3/rcgc0123010%20eng.htm. Last Access 15 Mar 2016
McKercher A (2012) ‘The most serious problem’? Canada–US relations and Cuba, 1962. Cold War History 12(1):69–88
Memoria (1976–77) Memoria Anuario 1976–77. University of Havana
MES (1997) Catálogo. Ministry of Higher Education, Havana
Pérez Rojas H (2014) Interview by A. Baracca: the rise and development of physics in Cuba: an interview with Hugo Pérez Rojas in May 2009 (Baracca A, Renn J, Wendt H, eds), pp 279–284
Pruna Goodgall PM (2006) Historia de la ciencia y la tecnología en Cuba. Editorial Cientifico Técnica, Havana
Serra A (2007) The “New Man” in Cuba. Culture and Identity in the revolution (Contemporary Cuba). University of Florida, New York
Starr D (2012) The Cuban biotech revolution. http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.12/cuba_pr.html. Last Access 15 Mar 2016
UNDP (2003) Human development report 2003. Millennium development goals: a compact among nations to end human poverty. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Veltfort T (2014) The beginning of semiconductor research in Cuba (Baracca A, Renn J, Wendt H, eds), pp 353–356
Wylie L (2010) Perceptions of Cuba. Canadian and American policies in comparative perspective. University of Toronto Press, Toronto
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Baracca, A., Franconi, R. (2016). Addressing the Challenge of Scientific Development: The First Steep Steps of a Long Path. In: Subalternity vs. Hegemony, Cuba's Outstanding Achievements in Science and Biotechnology, 1959-2014. SpringerBriefs in History of Science and Technology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40609-1_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40609-1_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-40608-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-40609-1
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)