Abstract
The intellectual activity of the criollo Francisco José de Caldas (1768–1816) has been the subject of many kinds of study, and specifically in connection with the emergence in New Granada, at the beginning of the 19th century, of the native forms of scientific culture. Attention has focussed on two characteristic features of the Colombian society of that time: first, on the transformations of the country’s cultural space, a consequence of the impact, over the preceding forty years, of the message of the Enlightenment; and second, on the appearance of the first signs of social and political contradictions which would eventually lead to independence from the Spanish Crown in 1810.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
Chenu, J. (1987): “Du bon usage d’instruments imparfaits: Science et technique dans le Vice-Royaume de Nouvelle Grenade (Deuxième moitié du XVIIIe siècle)”, Asclepio Revista de Historia de la Medicina y de la Ciencia, vol.29, p.255–271.
Arboleda Llorente, J.-M. (1945): “La plaza de Caldas en Popayán”, Boletín de Historia y Antigüedades, vol.32, p.877–907;
Bateman, A. D. (1978): Francisco José de Caldas, El nombre y el sabio, Biblioteca Banco Popular, vol.79, Cali;
Paredes Pardo, J. (1983): “Repaso del sabio Caldas”, Boletín Cultural y Bibliográfico, Bogotá, vol.20, p.98–130;
Arias de Greiff, J. (1980): “Aspectos inéditos de la vida y la obra de Caldas”, in: Bases biológicas de la vida y la enfermedad, Fundación OFA, Bogotá;
Arias de Greiff, J. (1985): “La Astronomía”, in: Historia social de las ciencias en Colombia, vol.1, Colciencias, Bogotá (Manuscrito).
Albis, V., Martínez-Chavans, R. (1987): “Las investigaciones meteorológicas de Caldas”, Quipu, Revisia Latinoamericana de Historia de las Ciencias y la Tecnología, México, vol.4, p.413–432.
Hernández de Alba, G. (1947): Aspectos de la cultura en Colombia, Ministerio de Educación, Biblioteca Popular Colombiana, Bogotá;
García Bacca, J. D. (1955): García Bacca, J. D. Antología del pensamiento filosófico en Colombia de 1647 a 1761, Selección de manuscrites, textos, traducción, introducciones, Imprensa Nacional, Bogotá;
Jaramillo Uribe, J. (1977): La personalidad hisiórica de Colombia y otros ensayos, Instituto Colombiano de Cultura, Bogotá;
Pachecho, J. M. (1976): La Ilustración en el Nuevo Reino, Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, Caracas;
y Cristina, M. T. (1982): “La literatura en la conquista y la colonia”, in: Jaramillo Uribe, J. (ed.), Historia social, económica y cultural, 3 vol., 2nd ed., Procultura, Bogotá, vol.1, p.491–592.
Chenu, J. (1977): “Littérature scientifique en Nouvelle Grenade à la veille de l’indépendance: du discours à la pratique”, Studies on Voltaire and the 18th century, vol.97, p.313–336;
Obregón, D. et al (1986): Historia social de las ciencias. Sabios, médicos y boticarios, Colección popular de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá;
Restrepo Forero, O. (1985): “La formation del espíritu científico en el Nuevo Reino de Granada”, Revista Colombiana de Educación, Bogotá, vol.16;
Quevedo, E., y Zaldúa, A. (1988): “Institutionalización de la meédicina en Colombia”, I, Ciencia, Tecnología y Desarrollo, Bogotá, vol.12, p. 137–221;
Arboleda, L. C. (1987): “Acerca del problema de la difusión cientifica en la periferia: El caso de la fisica newtoniana en la Nueva Granada (1740–1820)”, Quipu, Revista Latinoamericana de Historia de las Ciencias y la Tecnología, vol.4, p.7–30;
y Arboleda, L. C. (1990): Newton en la Nueva Granada, Informe de Investigación, Programa F. P. Santander, Colcultura, Bogotá (Manuscrito).
Obras completas de Francisco José de Caldas, Imprenta Nacional, Bogotá, 1966. From here on will be cited as Works.
Cartas de Caldas, Editorial Kelly, Bogota, 1978. From here on will be cited as Letters.
I refer here to the letter dated December 9th 1795, Letters, p.25, where Caldas speaks of his travels in commerce and the birth of his spirit of scientific observation. Slipping out of the constraints of the profession of jurist which kept him away from his calling as naturalist, Caldas chose at that time to travel the route of commerce between the seat of the government of the Presidence of Quito and Santafé, the Capital of the Vice-Royalty. He thus found the way of making his living in the lucrative activity of the tradesman and at the same time of responding to his inner calling, the “call of nature”, which would lead him to the exploration of the central areas and then of the andean regions of the territory of New Granada. Bateman, A. D. (1978): Francisco José de Caldas, El nombre y el sabio, Biblioteca Banco Popular, vol.79, Cali, p.25–31 has some interesting commentaries although from his traditional laudatory point of view. Compare with Arias de Greiff, J. (1985): “La Astronomía”, in: Historia social de las ciencias en Colombia, vol.1, Colciencias, Bogotá (Manuscrito), p.24–27.
Letters, p.25; see the continuation of this commentary, infra, p.3. Caldas’s interest in basing the exploitation of the territory on solid scientific works, principally in physics and the natural sciences, will be reiterated in his correspondance all through the years 1795–1801; Letters, p.25, 29, 33, 35, 49, 60–61, 101.
Letters, p.86. Caldas still expresses here the unlimited confidence (shared by all his generation as a result of Mutis’s teachings) in the supposed competence and adequacy of Linnaeus’s system for the explanation of equatorial nature. This confidence will begin to shrink as botanical investigations start to appear over the following years. See: Restrepo Forero, O. (1986): “El tránsito de la historia natural a la biologia en Colombia 1784–1936”, Ciencia, Tecnología y Desarrollo, Bogotá, vol.10, p.181–275; y Arboleda, L. C. (1990b): “José Celestino Mutis (1732–1808), l’Expédition botanique (1783–1816) et la naissance d’une tradition scientifique à la Nouvelle-Grenade”, in: X. Polanco (ed.), Naissance et développement de la science-monde, ed. La Découverte-Unesco, Paris.
In this letter of 5 December 1798 the necessity of a project for the mapping of the territory of New Granada, including the Province of Quito, appears for the first time (Letters, p.42). Caldas spent a great deal of time and effort in the geographical survey and mapping of the territory in its relation to the economy and commerce. His most important publication on this subject was his report on the “Estado de la geografia del Virreinato de Santa Fe de Bogotá”, published in the first numbers of Semanario del Nuevo Reino de Granada, corresponding to 1808, See Works, p.183–211.
Boundary disputes between landowners in the Timaná region could not be settled using maps as incomplete as that of Piedrahita which had been drawn up in the previous century. So Caldas finds his first opportunity to sell his professional services as geographer and is able to determine exactly the latitude and longitude of several sites, with the conscious aim of correcting maps as prestigious as those of Maldonado and La Condamine (Letters, p.279).
The letters from the end of 1808 and the beginning of 1809 give proof of Caldas’s maneuvers, aided by friends and relatives, to obtain from the authorities of the Vice-Royalty his official appointment as Director of the Observatory. See: Letters, p.284–286. Finally, July 1st 1809 Caldas thanks the Vice-Roy Amar y Borbón for his appointment to a position which “has bestowed me the most brilliant destiny and the one most consonant to my inclinations “(Letters, p.293).
Consult Restrepo Forero, O. (1986), Restrepo Forero, O. (1985): “La formation del espíritu científico en el Nuevo Reino de Granada”, Revista Colombiana de Educación, Bogotá, vol.16.
y Arboleda, L. C. (1990): Newton en la Nueva Granada, Informe de Investigación, Programa F. P. Santander, Colcultura, Bogotá (Manuscrito).
Letters, p.43–48. When passing through Popayán, Humboldt learned of Caldas’s studies and did not hesitate to include them in his Diary of Astronomical Observations. He also praised Caldas’s skill and talents in such unfavorable circumstances in comparison to international centres (see, for example, Humboldt’s letter to Mutis November 10th 1801, in: Hernández de Alba, G. (ed.) (1983): Archivo epistolar del sabio naturalista José Celestino Mutis, Instituto de Cultura Hispánica, Bogotá, vol.IV, p. 12; Letters, p.l51).
On the geodesic expedition to Peru it is of interest to consult Lafuente, A., Mazuecos, A. (1987): Los Caballeros del puntofijo, ed. del Serval, Barcelona.
As well as the instructions for building a quadrant, Caldas founds in Observaciones methods of geometrization, astronomical calculations and geodesic techniques used in Peru by Juan and Ulloa. Other sources of Caldas’s knowledge of astronomy and meteorology are summarized in Albis, V., Martínez-Chavans (1987), and Chenu, J. (1987).
A typical example of this approach is in Bateman, A. D. (1978): Francisco José de Caldas, El nombre y el sabio, Biblioteca Banco Popular, vol.79, Cali, p.101–132.
Albis, V., Martínez-Chavans, R. (1987), p.442.
In Chenu, J. (1987): “Du bon usage d’instruments imparfaits: Science et technique dans le Vice-Royaume de Nouvelle Grenade (Deuxième moitié du XVIIIe siècle)”, Asclepio Revista de Historia de la Medicina y de la Ciencia, vol.29, p.263–264, an account can be found of how this random factor entered into Caldas’s innovations in the methods of measuring altitudes.
Caldas’s correspondence during his numerous voyages from Popayán to Quito, demonstrate his endeavours to determine the constant basing himself on significant barometrical readings. This interest of his is clearly evident in his posthumous report: “Sobre un nuevo método de medir la altura de las moñtanas por medio del termómetro y el agua hirviendo”, in: Works, p.l53–173 y 487. Also in Letters, p.91, 160, 170.
Albis, V., Martínez-Chavans, R. (1987), p.419–420.
y Arboleda, L. C. (1990): Newton en la Nueva Granada, Informe de Investigación, Programa F. P. Santander, Colcultura, Bogotá (Manuscrito).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1992 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Arboleda, L.C. (1992). Science and Nationalism in New Granada on the Eve of the Revolution of Independence. In: Petitjean, P., Jami, C., Moulin, A.M. (eds) Science and Empires. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, vol 136. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-2594-9_26
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-2594-9_26
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-5145-3
Online ISBN: 978-94-011-2594-9
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive