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From Columbus to Acosta: Science

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From Columbus to Acosta: Science FromColumbus to Acosta: Science, Geography,and the New World KarlW. Butzer Departmentof Geography,University of Texasat Austin,Austin, TX 78712, FAX 512/471-5049 Abstract.What is called the Age of Discovery peoples probably put observers with rural evokes imagesof voyages,nautical skills, and backgroundson an equal footingwith those maps. Yet the Europeanencounter with the steeped in traditionalacademic curricula.Last Americasalso led to an intellectualconfronta- butnot least,the essaypoints up the enormity tionwith the naturalhistory and ethnography of the primarydocumentation, compiled by of a "new" world.Contrary to the prevailing these Spanishcontributors during the century view of intellectualstasis, this confrontation after1492, most of it awaitinggeographical re- provokednovel methods of empiricaldescrip- appraisal. tion, organization,analysis, and synthesisas KeyWords: Acosta,Columbus, ethnography, geo- Medievaldeductivism and Classicalontogen- graphicalplanning, gridiron towns, historyof sci- ies proved to be inadequate. This essay ence, landforms,L6pez de Velasco, naturalhistory, demonstrateshow the agentsof thatencoun- New World landscapes, Oviedo, relaciones ter-sailors, soldiers, governmentofficials, geograficas,Renaissance, Sahagun, Spanish geogra- and missionaries-madesense of these new phy. landsand peoples; ithighlights seven method- ological spheres, by examiningthe work of The worldis so vastand beautiful,and containsso exemplaryindividuals who illustratethe di- manythings, each differentfrom the other. verse backgrounds,abilities, and interests -Francisco L6pez de G6mara(1552) characteristicof the period. These examples includethe observational skills of Columbus in Renaissance Science 1492,the landscapetaxonomy of his son Fer- nando, the biotic taxonomyof Oviedo, the HE Europeanencounter with the Amer- culturalrecording of Sahagun, the regionalge- Uicas in 1492 fallswithin what Western ographyof Cieza, thepervasive role of Velasco historianscall the Age of Discovery.Hu- in bothgeographical synthesis and townplan- manistshave long been fascinatedwith that ningat the governmentlevel, and finally,the encounteras a source of mythsand images overarchingscientific framework for the natu- (Green1968, III, pt. 1; Gerbi1985; Greenblatt ralhistory and peoples of the New Worldpro- 1991). Historiansof science in generaland of posed byAcosta in 1590.The evidencerehabil- geographyin particularare preoccupiedwith itatesthe reputationof Columbus who, likeso navigationand cartography(Kimble 1938, manyothers with little or no formaleducation, chaps. 5, 9-10; Parry1981; Jamesand Martin had a spontaneouscapacity to observe and 1981, 63-95; Nebenzahl 1990; Harley 1990; describe.The originsof NativeAmerican ste- Buisseret1992). The thesisof thisessay is that reotypesare identified,but there also were the Spanish encounterwith the New World remarkable"insider" studies that, in the case also had a far-rangingimpact on environmental of Sahagun,touched upon the semioticsof and culturalunderstanding. cultureand landscape.Although Sahagun and The boundless enthusiasmwith which the Acosta had scholarlytraining, the confronta- firstwriters described the landscapesand biota tion with new environmentsand unfamiliar of the New Worldwas integralto the Renais- Annals of the Association of American Geographers. 82(3), 1992, pp. 543-565 ? Copyright1992 byAssociation of American Geographers This content downloaded from 128.62.59.252 on Fri, 13 Mar 2015 20:52:39 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 544 Butzer sance, or reawakeningof Western civilization. It can be debated whetherRenaissance ge- ThatRenaissance marked an uneasytransition ographywas the revitalizationof a Classical fromthe Medievalto the modernworld, char- traditionor the spontaneousproduct of a new acterizedby manycross-currents of thought intellectualclimate. Two personalitiesof the and expression.One hallmarkof the Renais- later Middle Ages illustratethe problem. In sance was the rediscoveryof Classicalwritings 1410,the FrenchCardinal d'Ailly (1948) wrote a duringthe fourteenthand fifteenthcenturies worlddescription based almostexclusively on and theirtranslation from Greek into Latin, as Classicalsources; it beginswith a seriesof in- a new source of information,ideas, and es- terestingfigures for the astronomicalsubdivi- theticprototypes. But the resultinghumanistic sion ofthe globe, but his regionalchapters are resurgencedid not immediatelylead to more a mixof old fablesand obsoletetoponyms, for criticalanalysis, let alone philosophicalreas- whichendless fictionalor mythologicalexpla- sessment.The deferenceonce given to the nationsare offered.Quite unaffectedby such Bibleor Christiantheological authority shifted ballastfrom Antiquity, the Venetianmerchant- to thatof leadingClassical scholars, but empir- travelerMarco Polo (1958) lefta remarkable icalcontradictions to "new"authorities such as accountof his travelsin Asia (1271-95)that in- Aristotlewere onlyoffered with hesitation. At cludesvivid descriptions of landscapesand cul- itsworst, the rediscoveryof Antiquity led to an turalpatterns.1 Pierre D'Ailly and Marco Polo unproductiveantiquarianism that took prece- representtwo extremesamong precursorsof dence overnew observationsand stifledintel- theRenaissance, but the pattern remained.2 My lectualprogress. pointis notthat intellectual roots are unimport- Medieval science had already included a ant, but thatthe prevalentRenaissance para- componentof empirical, practical observation, digmoveremphasizes the significanceof Clas- butwas dominatedby scholastic discussions or sical antiquity,to the degree thatit obscures theexcerpting of older texts, seldom introduc- theacuity and originalityof Renaissanceobser- ing materialsderived from personal observa- vationalskills and comprehension. tion.The threerealms of naturalhistory, con- The discoverers,explorers, and observa- sistingof animals,plants, and minerals,had tionalscientists of the Renaissancewere at best been studiedin a compartmentalizedfashion, familiarwith a verylimited selection of Classical withouta grasp of fundamentalinterconnec- works,that were frequentlycited onlyfor ef- tions,except as an expressionof a divineplan. fect,sometimes in the finalstages of revision In manyways it was a period of introverted (see Cieza de Leon 1984,xxxiii, n. 12). Strabo, reflectionon theself-sufficient truths provided an available and obvious source, was barely by theology,and the individualwas partof an used, and Columbus'sconsultation appears to ahistoricalcycle of lifeand death,of suffering have been veryselective and froma derivative in the presentand anticipatedreward in the digestin hispossession (see Broc1980,18, 200; hereafter. Harley 1990, 37, 42). More influentialwas The rediscoveryof Antiquity provided a new Pliny's Natural History(1940-56), the de facto sense of history,identifying new role models encyclopediaof the Renaissance(Broc 1980, of scholars-not onlysoldiers or kings-who 15). Forcartography and navigation,the tables had made theirmark in a secularworld of the of geographicalcoordinates by Ptolemy(1932), living.Renaissance scholarship included indi- and the maps attributedto him, provideda vidualswho were motivatedand willingto em- director indirectdatum for most large-scale barkon a new search,with a freshcuriosity. chartsfrom the mid-1300sto the early1500s.' Only a minorityof these had both the talent Geographyduring this period was a partof and boldnessto emphasizethe empiricaland whatwas called cosmography(Waldseemuller the inductive,to reexaminedeductive theories 1966),which included astronomy and nautical critically,and to drawconclusions from direct science,particularly as applied to cartography. observationor experiment.Although time- Butbetween Waldseemuller writing in 1507 and honoredreligious beliefs set constraintsto dis- Munster (1968) in 1550, cosmographyalso cussion,the Renaissancewas the beginningof began to includewhat today would be called a spiritof freeenquiry, with renewed interest physicaland culturalgeography. inverification, accuracy, and systematicunder- The presentpaper is directedto the origins, standing. rapid growth,and crystallizationof physical This content downloaded from 128.62.59.252 on Fri, 13 Mar 2015 20:52:39 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions FromColumbus to Acosta 545 and culturalgeography as a consequence of ing and slave huntingactivities from 1434-48, the ColumbianEncounter. My argument is that punctuatedby incidental comments on indige- the Europeandiscovery of the New Worldre- nous customs; only its commercialprospects quired new observationaland descriptive stirredinterest in Portugal.To the creditof skills,as well as explicitdiscussion of environ- Columbus(Cristobal Colon), hisvoyage of 1492 mentaland culturalphenomena that could no inspiredmuch more than additional coastlines longerbe takenfor granted: things were either on theportolan charts. Even though he thought differentor similaron the otherside of the he was in EastAsia, Columbus recognized the ocean. Geomorphologysoon receiveda de- noveltyof the landscapes,flora, and people on gree of attentionthat it had neverbeen ac- the otherside of the ocean. Howeverobser- corded inAntiquity, and biogeographywas re- vantwere othercaptains or ship's pilotsof the invigorated. Ethnographic observations period,they lacked his abilityto describethe graduallyadded greaterdepth to the appreci- novel in waysthat would exciteacademic and ationof cultural phenomena, and theseseveral laycuriosity
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