Establishment of the First Latin American Community on History of Science

In 1981, during the XVI International Congress of History of Science (ICHS), a group of Latin American historians of science came together to establish the Latin American Society for the History of Science and Technology (LASHST) (1982) and the journal Quipu (1984). Juan José Saldaña (1944–2022) was the first president of the former and director of the latter. The formation of an academic network and the activities carried out contributed to the professionalization and institutionalization of this discipline in Latin America. The emerging Latin American community succeeded in incorporating new local topics into the mainstream of the history of science worldwide. LASHST worked on the search for methodologies specific to the region, organized a large number of Latin American and international events to give visibility and recognition to its field, and established specialized study programs for the training of new generations. Due to its outstanding performance Mexico hosted the XXI ICHS in 2001, for the first time in Latin America. In 2017, Brazil hosted the same event. Saldaña played a crucial role in these activities and in establishing close collaboration with international organizations. Consequently, he became the first Latin American to hold the position of General Secretary at the IUHPST/DHST, and the founder of IASCUD, Ceromayalist and CIHCyTAL.