In the introduction the editors claim that the volume explores the role of translation in the history of early modern natural sciences. The contributions (with one exception) are particularly concerned with transfers of knowledge stemming from Spanish America in a circum-Atlantic space. The editors discuss different understandings of translation, including both epistemic and political aspects. One aim of the anthology is to contribute to a comprehensive concept of science that goes beyond the northwestern European tradition of Francis Bacon to include transatlantic, especially Spanish American, knowledge production.
Although the terms translating and nature are in the book's title, the reader will miss these two topics in some of the contributions. Juan Pimentel inquires into the recurring omission of actors who contributed to the “discovery” of the Pacific Ocean (p. 1). First, the Amerindian contribution to the Vasco Núñez de Balboa expedition was eclipsed. Later, Balboa erased their presence entirely in...
