Search

The foundation of the Universidad Nacional de los Estados Unidos de Colombia in 1868 occurred almost a decade after the publication of Darwin's Origin of Species (1859); in the Escuela de Ciencias Naturales, courses were given that included themes of plant geography, geology and paleontology. ¿Would these courses follow the paradigm of natural history inherited from the botanical expedition of the Nuevo Reino de Granada, or would they be contextualized in the modern biological tradition, interpreting nature within the background of evolutionary theories that emerged during the 19th century? This investigation consulted primary and secondary historical sources to determine if between 1868 and 1875, the mentioned courses had an essentialist-catastrophist, or a Lamarckian or Darwinian evolutionist background. The analysis allowed us to conclude that these courses had as primary sources French and Spanish texts, particularly De Candolle and Orbigny, and circumscribed to the mainly catastrophic and essentialist French school. Although the courses could discuss some issues related to the origin of species, surely, they did not do so in a Darwinian context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]