Abstract

NIETO OLARTE, Mauricio. SCIENCE, EMPIRE, MODERNITY, AND EUROCENTRISM: THE ATLANTIC WORLD OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY AND THE COMPREHENSION OF THE NEW WORLD. hist.crit. [online]. 2009, n.39, suppl.1, pp.12-32. ISSN 0121-1617.

This article discusses a number of key issues in the history of sixteenth-century Iberian science: the role of sixteenth-century Spanish science in the construction of modern science; the encounter of Western science with other forms of knowledge; the relationship between science and empire; and the construction of a Eurocentric world order. The author concludes by suggesting that the idea of "comprehension" -as both a form of appropriation and a process of self-construction- can help explain the political character of science and its role in the Iberian conquest of the New World.

Keywords : New World; Science; Empire; Eurocentrism; Comprehension.

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