Research Catalog

Title

Imagining the Atacama Desert : a five-hundred-year journey of discovery / Richard V. Francaviglia.

Author

Francaviglia, Richard V.

Publication

Salt Lake City : The University of Utah Press, [2018]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xviii, 435 pages : illustrations (some color), maps (some color); 26 cm

Summary

"Widely regarded as the driest place on earth, the seemingly desolate Atacama Desert of Chile is a place steeped in intrigue and haunted by collective memories. This book, based on archival research and the author's personal field work, brings together the works of geographers, historians, anthropologists, botanists, geologists, astronomers, novelists, and others to offer a nuanced understanding of this complex desert landscape. Beginning with the indigenous Atacameño peoples at the southern edge of the Incan Empire, the volume moves through five hundred years of history, sharing accounts written by Spanish, French, German, Dutch, British, American, and other travelers pirates, scientists, explorers, and entrepreneurs among them. The Atacama's austere landscape hides many secrets, including vast mineral wealth, the world's oldest mummies, and the more recent remains of dissidents murdered by the regime of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in the early 1970s. Today numerous observatories operate under the Atacama's clear night skies, astronauts train on the rugged desert floor, and tourists flock there for inspiration. In addition to a rich set of narratives, the book features 115 images historical maps, photographs, and natural history illustrations, most in full color to tell a more complete and compelling story. Imagining the Atacama Desert shows how what was once a wilderness at the edges of empire became one of South America's most iconic regions, one that continues to lure those seeking adventure and the unknown"--Provided by publisher.

Subject

• Physical geography > Chile > Atacama Desert
• Civilization
• Discoveries in geography
• Physical geography
• Atacama Desert (Chile) > Discovery and exploration
• Atacama Desert (Chile) > Civilization
• Chile > Atacama Desert

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages [367]-400) and index.

Contents

"A desert picture of great beauty" : an introduction to the Atacama Desert -- "El gran despoblado" : early narratives and images of empire building, ca. 1530-1700 -- "The great desert of Atacama" : the dawn of science, ca. 1700-1865 -- "A centre of enterprise ... and civilisation" : transforming the Atacama Desert, ca. 1865-1945 -- "A playground for scientists and explorers" : the Atacama as exceptional, ca. 1945 to the present -- "Knowledge of the territory" : Atacama discoveries in personal perspective.

Call Number

JFF 18-1569

ISBN

• 9781607816102
• 1607816105

LCCN

2017052578

OCLC

1012697407

Author

Francaviglia, Richard V., author.

Title

Imagining the Atacama Desert : a five-hundred-year journey of discovery / Richard V. Francaviglia.

Publisher

Salt Lake City : The University of Utah Press, [2018]

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages [367]-400) and index.

Other Form:

Online version: Francaviglia, Richard V. Imagining the Atacama Desert. Salt Lake City : The University of Utah Press, [2018] 9781607816119 (DLC) 2017056146

Research Call Number

JFF 18-1569