Finding a Point of Observation in the Global South: The C. L. Gerling and J.M. Gilliss Correspondence (1847–1856)

Abstract

Historians of science have amply demonstrated the transnational character of science; however, they have not sufficiently attended to how several scientific projects were coordinated as part of global initiatives. Our research – based on the unpublished, written correspondence between Christian Ludwig Gerling in Germany and James M. Gilliss in the United States, from 1847 to 1856 – examines the issues that were being discussed in the search for an observation point in Chile that could be linked to the various astronomical research projects happening in the global north. This article shows that the building of this network had to navigate communicational and language barriers, financial uncertainty, lack of adequate scientific instruments, and the influence of intermediaries. In fact, the intermediaries involved affected the formulation of questions and objectives, as well as the choice of methods and instruments to be used (such as Alexander von Humboldt and Friedrich Gauss), and directly impacted on how these things were brought to bear (for example, instrument manufacturers, diplomats, and translators).