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Jesuit Science in Spanish South America, 1570-1810

By Andres I. Prieto, assistant professor of Spanish and Portuguese

“Missionary Scientists” explores the scientific activities of Jesuit missionaries in colonial Spanish America, revealing a little-known aspect of religions role in the scholarship of the early Spanish Empire. Grounded in an examination of the writings and individuals authors who were active in South American naturalist studies, this study outlines new paths of research often neglected by current scholarship.

What becomes clear throughout “Missionary Scientists” is that early missionaries were adept in adapting to local practices, in order to both understand the scientific foundations of these techniques and ingratiate themselves to the native communities.

Spanning the disciplines of history, religion, and Latin American studies, “Missionary Scientists” reshapes our understanding of the importance of the Jesuit missions in establishing early scientific traditions in the New World.

“Although Jesuit contributions to early modern culture have attracted substantial scholarly interest, the role of Jesuit scholars in the development of scientific and medical discourse in colonial Spanish America remains for the most part uncharted terrain. [Missionary Scientists is] a highly readable yet meticulously documented study of this topic that traces the development of the missionary ethos from the earliest years of the conquest through the expulsion of the Jesuits in the 18th century.”

–Kristine Ibsen, author of Maximillian, Mexico, and the Invention of Empire