LEADER 04002nam 22006734a 450 001 9910814928003321 005 20200520144314.0 010 $a0-292-79594-7 024 7 $a10.7560/709812 035 $a(CKB)1000000000461696 035 $a(OCoLC)191929037 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebrary10172730 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000152022 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11146950 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000152022 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10320995 035 $a(PQKB)10133151 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3442996 035 $a(OCoLC)69198944 035 $a(MdBmJHUP)muse2228 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3442996 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10172730 035 $a(DE-B1597)586543 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780292795945 035 $a(EXLCZ)991000000000461696 100 $a20050421d2006 ub 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcn||||||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 10$aExperiencing nature $ethe Spanish American empire and the early scientific revolution /$fAntonio Barrera-Osorio 205 $a1st ed. 210 $aAustin, TX $cUniversity of Texas Press$d2006 215 $a1 online resource (224 p.) 300 $aBibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph 311 $a0-292-70981-1 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. [189]-204) and index. 327 $aSearching the land for commodities -- A chamber of knowledge: the Casa de la Contratacion and its empirical methods -- Communities of experts: artisans and innovation in the New World -- Circuits of information: reports from the New World -- Books of nature: scholars, natural history, and the New World -- Conclusions: the politics of knowledge -- Appendix 1. Pilots and cosmographers at the Casa de la Contratacion -- Appendix 2. Instruments -- Appendix 3. Spanish scientific books. 330 $aAs Spain colonized the Americas during the sixteenth century, Spanish soldiers, bureaucrats, merchants, adventurers, physicians, ship pilots, and friars explored the natural world, gathered data, drew maps, and sent home specimens of America's vast resources of animals, plants, and minerals. This amassing of empirical knowledge about Spain's American possessions had two far-reaching effects. It overturned the medieval understanding of nature derived from Classical texts and helped initiate the modern scientific revolution. And it allowed Spain to commodify and control the natural resources upon which it built its American empire. In this book, Antonio Barrera-Osorio investigates how Spain's need for accurate information about its American colonies gave rise to empirical scientific practices and their institutionalization, which, he asserts, was Spain's chief contribution to the early scientific revolution. He also conclusively links empiricism to empire-building as he focuses on five areas of Spanish activity in America: the search for commodities in, and the ecological transformation of, the New World; the institutionalization of navigational and information-gathering practices at the Spanish Casa de la Contratación (House of Trade); the development of instruments and technologies for exploiting the natural resources of the Americas; the use of reports and questionnaires for gathering information; and the writing of natural histories about the Americas. 606 $aScience$zLatin America$xHistory$yTo 1830 606 $aScience$zSpain$xHistory$yTo 1830 606 $aScience$zUnited States$xHistory$yTo 1830 607 $aLatin America$xHistory$yTo 1830 607 $aSpain$xHistory 607 $aSpain$xColonies$zAmerica 615 0$aScience$xHistory 615 0$aScience$xHistory 615 0$aScience$xHistory 676 $a509.8 686 $aNN 1710$2rvk 700 $aBarrera-Osorio$b Antonio$f1964-$01683659 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910814928003321 996 $aExperiencing nature$94054560 997 $aUNINA