La Amrica Olvidada: Contactos precolombinos ignorados y un error de Ptolomeo (Arqueología) - Softcover

Russo, Lucio

Softcover

ISBN 10: 8410520818 ISBN 13: 9788410520813

Publisher: Almuzara, 2024

Synopsis

Agriculture, weaving, pottery, metallurgy, altars and sacrifices, writing, cities and states constitute the stages that the civilizations of the Old and New Worlds went through in the same order. In Mesoamerica, the parallelism also includes an impressive series of techniques and cultural developments, from cylindrical seals to lost wax molding, from the introduction of the zero to terracotta figurines of animals mounted on wheels. Are these itineraries pre-established by our gene pool or are they the result of ancient contacts? Can we not draw from this question a solid thesis that would clarify our historical essences? Scholars persist in their skepticism about the possible evidence of pre-Columbian contacts between America and other continents, and the meager heterodox have not yet presented evidence worthy of their support. This revealing and revolutionary essay approaches the problem with a new tool drawn from mathematical geography: the examination of the coordinates transmitted by Claudius Ptolemy shows that he assigned the wrong dimensions to the Earth and demonstrates that, in antiquity, the oceans did not constitute an insurmountable barrier, thus eliminating the deterministic conception of history. Did Ptolemy confuse the Canary Islands with the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean? Was Hipparchus his source? Had the Carthaginians discovered those unknown places before anyone else? What consequences did the conquest of the Mediterranean by Rome have on the scientific knowledge of the time? And, above all, what is the real significance of the question? The Italian physicist, mathematician and historian Lucio Russo undertakes an exciting journey to find the keys to our civilization.

About this title

About the Author

LUCIO RUSSO (Venecia, Italia, 1944), físico, matemático e historiador, ha enseñado en las universidades de Nápoles, Módena y Roma Tor Vergata y ha sido profesor visitante en varias instituciones, entre ellas la Universidad de Princeton (Nueva Jersey, Estados Unidos) y el Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques (Bures-sur-Yvette, Francia). Se ha dedicado a la mecánica estadística, el cálculo de probabilidades, la historia de la ciencia y la historia. Sus contribuciones de carácter histórico se distinguen por el uso de métodos propios de la ciencia exacta. De entre sus libros, traducidos a varios idiomas, destacamos La rivoluzione dimenticata, il pensiero scientifico greco e la scienza moderna (Feltrinelli, última edición 2021), Ingegni minuti, una storia della scienza in Italia (con Emanuela Santoni, Feltrinelli, 2010), Stelle, atomi e velieri, percorsi di storia della scienza (Mondadori Università, 2015), Flussi e riflussi, indagine sull'origine di una teoria scientifica (última edición Mondadori Università, 2020), Perché la cultura classica, la risposta di un non classicista (Mondadori, 2018), Notre culture scientifique, le Monde antique en héritage (Les Belles Lettres, 2020) e Il tracollo culturale, la conquista romana del Mediterraneo (146-145 a. C.) (Carocci, 2022).

Edition details

• Publisher: Almuzara
• Publication date: 2024
• Language: Spanish
• ISBN 10: 8410520818
• ISBN 13: 9788410520813
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304