Miguel Angel Puig-Samper – författare

I Twenty-five years ago, at the Conference on the Comparative Reception of Darwinism held at the University of Texas in 1972, only two countries of the Iberian world-Spain and Mexico-were represented.' At the time, it was apparent that the topic had attracted interest only as regarded the "mainstream" science countries of Western Europe, plus the United States. The Eurocentric bias of professional history of science was a fact. The sea change that subsequently occurred in the historiography of science makes 1972 appear something like the antediluvian era. Still, we would like to think that that meeting was prescient in looking beyond the mainstream science countries-as then perceived-in order to test the variation that ideas undergo as they pass from center to periphery. One thing that the comparative study of the reception of ideas makes abundantly clear, however, is the weakness of the center/periphery dichotomy from the perspective of the diffusion of scientific ideas. Catholics in mainstream countries, for example, did not handle evolution much better than did their corre1igionaries on the fringes. Conversely, Darwinians in Latin America were frequently better placed to advance Darwin's ideas in a social and political sense than were their fellow evolutionists on the Continent. The Texas meeting was also a marker in the comparative reception of scientific ideas, Darwinism aside. Although, by 1972, scientific institutions had been studied comparatively, there was no antecedent for the comparative history of scientific ideas.

El propósito de esta obra es dar a conocer a un público amplio uno de los fenómenos de mayor trascendencia y vergüenza para la humanidad como fue la esclavización de más de doce millones y medio de africanos que fueron trasladados a América, obligados a trabajar y vivir como esclavos. Muchos países participaron en la trata de esclavos en distintos momentos y con diferente intensidad (Gran Bretaña, Portugal, Francia, España, Dinamarca, Países Bajos, Alemania, Estados Unidos…).La esclavitud y su memoria ha provocado a lo largo de los siglos una estigmatización de quienes fueron esclavos y en ocasiones también de sus descendientes. Las diferencias físicas superficiales como el color de la piel, que no genéticas, de la poblaciones procedentes de África contribuyeron a fortalecer las ideas sobre las distancias construidas entre las poblaciones (superioridad/inferioridad; civilizado/bárbaro; civilizado/salvaje) que justificaron la esclavitud y posteriormente la exclusión y el racismo.

I Twenty-five years ago, at the Conference on the Comparative Reception of Darwinism held at the University of Texas in 1972, only two countries of the Iberian world-Spain and Mexico-were represented.'' At the time, it was apparent that the topic had attracted interest only as regarded the "mainstream" science countries of Western Europe, plus the United States. The Eurocentric bias of professional history of science was a fact. The sea change that subsequently occurred in the historiography of science makes 1972 appear something like the antediluvian era. Still, we would like to think that that meeting was prescient in looking beyond the mainstream science countries-as then perceived-in order to test the variation that ideas undergo as they pass from center to periphery. One thing that the comparative study of the reception of ideas makes abundantly clear, however, is the weakness of the center/periphery dichotomy from the perspective of the diffusion of scientific ideas. Catholics in mainstream countries, for example, did not handle evolution much better than did their corre1igionaries on the fringes. Conversely, Darwinians in Latin America were frequently better placed to advance Darwin''s ideas in a social and political sense than were their fellow evolutionists on the Continent. The Texas meeting was also a marker in the comparative reception of scientific ideas, Darwinism aside. Although, by 1972, scientific institutions had been studied comparatively, there was no antecedent for the comparative history of scientific ideas.

I Twenty-five years ago, at the Conference on the Comparative Reception of Darwinism held at the University of Texas in 1972, only two countries of the Iberian world-Spain and Mexico-were represented.' At the time, it was apparent that the topic had attracted interest only as regarded the "mainstream" science countries of Western Europe, plus the United States. The Eurocentric bias of professional history of science was a fact. The sea change that subsequently occurred in the historiography of science makes 1972 appear something like the antediluvian era. Still, we would like to think that that meeting was prescient in looking beyond the mainstream science countries-as then perceived-in order to test the variation that ideas undergo as they pass from center to periphery. One thing that the comparative study of the reception of ideas makes abundantly clear, however, is the weakness of the center/periphery dichotomy from the perspective of the diffusion of scientific ideas. Catholics in mainstream countries, for example, did not handle evolution much better than did their corre1igionaries on the fringes. Conversely, Darwinians in Latin America were frequently better placed to advance Darwin's ideas in a social and political sense than were their fellow evolutionists on the Continent. The Texas meeting was also a marker in the comparative reception of scientific ideas, Darwinism aside. Although, by 1972, scientific institutions had been studied comparatively, there was no antecedent for the comparative history of scientific ideas.

Sometidos a esclavitud: los africanos y sus descendientes en el Caribe hispano contribuye al estudio de la historia Atlántica en la que la esclavización de millones de africanos fue uno de principales factores que generaron e impulsaron el desarrollo del mundo moderno. La formación de redes comerciales, compañías mercantiles y negocios particulares contribuyeron a conectar mundos y a hacerlos interdependientes. Junto a las mercancías, individuos y productos, viajaron ideas y tradiciones que fueron tejiendo la historia atlántica. En ella, la esclavización, los esclavizados y los afrodescendientes fueron y son partes destacadas, como muestra su legado presente de las culturas americanas. Estos estudios de la obra se suman a investigaciones que, desde distintos países, proyectos, grupos de investigación y enfoques, se están realizando sobre un tema tan rico, diverso y complejo como es la esclavitud atlántica. El espacio temporal que recorren los capítulos se prolonga en el tiempo como lo hizo la trata y el sistema esclavista. Lo mismo ocurre con los territorios afectados por este fenómeno.