From maize to bypass surgery: contributions from Africa and the Americas we use today
The contraceptive pill, CAPTCHA, bypass surgery and today's maize wouldn't exist without the Americas and Africa. A look at contributions still debated.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
From maize to bypass surgery: contributions from Africa and the Americas we use today
The maize that feeds half the planet today does not grow that way in nature. It is an artifact, the product of centuries of selection. And that is, at bottom, the crux of a matter that is often settled with shouting: what did the civilizations of Africa and the Americas contribute to technology and the economy. The short answer is that quite a few things are used every day without remembering where they come from. The long one requires distinguishing between finding a plant and building it.
The crops that reshaped the global diet
Maize, potato, sweet potato, quinoa, peanut, avocado, cocoa, tobacco and rubber are from the Americas. They arrived in Europe after the Columbian exchange and transformed agriculture across the entire continent. The case of maize is the most illustrative: the wild grain was little short of useless, and what is eaten today is a product of agriculture.
There is a detail that is often overlooked. The peoples of the Americas did not just cultivate maize: they discovered how to process it. Nixtamalization improves the grain's nutrients for human consumption and prevented pellagra in diets based on that plant. That is not harvesting what the land gives; it is applied chemistry.
Agricultural engineering before the conquest
The story that in the Americas and Africa there were only hunter-gatherers does not hold up against the record. The Aztecs created artificial islands in lakes for high-productivity floating gardens. The Maya used slash-and-burn in the jungle and developed advanced irrigation techniques. The Incas built farming terraces on slopes that prevented erosion and created microclimates, as well as networks of canals and aqueducts.
In Africa, iron metallurgy was widespread: Kush rivaled Egypt, and many African peoples processed iron for weapons and tools. Ethiopia domesticated the donkey thousands of years ago, a working animal that sustained transport across half the world.
Modern inventions that do have a named inventor
The Mexican chemist Luis E. Miramontes synthesized in 1951 norethisterone, the active compound behind the first oral contraceptive. The Guatemalan Luis von Ahn devised CAPTCHA codes. The Argentine René Favaloro performed the world's first coronary bypass. The Mexican Heberto Castillo patented in 1966 the Tridilosa system, used in more than 200 bridges and in the World Trade Center in Mexico City. The Brazilian-German Andreas Pavel created the portable music player and won his legal battle against Sony over authorship. The Chilean Arturo Arias conceived the seismic intensity measure that engineers use today. The Venezuelan Jacinto Convit developed vaccines against leishmaniasis and treatments for leprosy.
The disagreement is not in the data; it is in how they are read. Part of the argument holds that using a plant that grows nearby is not technology but chance. The other part responds that selection over generations is nothing other than artificial creation. Where is the line drawn between nature and technology?
The maize that feeds half the planet today does not grow that way in nature. It is an artifact, the product of centuries of selection. And that is, at bottom, the crux of a matter that is often settled with shouting: what did the civilizations of Africa and the Americas contribute to technology and the economy. The short answer is that quite a few things are used every day without remembering where they come from. The long one requires distinguishing between finding a plant and building it.
The crops that reshaped the global diet
Maize, potato, sweet potato, quinoa, peanut, avocado, cocoa, tobacco and rubber are from the Americas. They arrived in Europe after the Columbian exchange and transformed agriculture across the entire continent. The case of maize is the most illustrative: the wild grain was little short of useless, and what is eaten today is a product of agriculture.
There is a detail that is often overlooked. The peoples of the Americas did not just cultivate maize: they discovered how to process it. Nixtamalization improves the grain's nutrients for human consumption and prevented pellagra in diets based on that plant. That is not harvesting what the land gives; it is applied chemistry.
Agricultural engineering before the conquest
The story that in the Americas and Africa there were only hunter-gatherers does not hold up against the record. The Aztecs created artificial islands in lakes for high-productivity floating gardens. The Maya used slash-and-burn in the jungle and developed advanced irrigation techniques. The Incas built farming terraces on slopes that prevented erosion and created microclimates, as well as networks of canals and aqueducts.
In Africa, iron metallurgy was widespread: Kush rivaled Egypt, and many African peoples processed iron for weapons and tools. Ethiopia domesticated the donkey thousands of years ago, a working animal that sustained transport across half the world.
Modern inventions that do have a named inventor
The Mexican chemist Luis E. Miramontes synthesized in 1951 norethisterone, the active compound behind the first oral contraceptive. The Guatemalan Luis von Ahn devised CAPTCHA codes. The Argentine René Favaloro performed the world's first coronary bypass. The Mexican Heberto Castillo patented in 1966 the Tridilosa system, used in more than 200 bridges and in the World Trade Center in Mexico City. The Brazilian-German Andreas Pavel created the portable music player and won his legal battle against Sony over authorship. The Chilean Arturo Arias conceived the seismic intensity measure that engineers use today. The Venezuelan Jacinto Convit developed vaccines against leishmaniasis and treatments for leprosy.
The disagreement is not in the data; it is in how they are read. Part of the argument holds that using a plant that grows nearby is not technology but chance. The other part responds that selection over generations is nothing other than artificial creation. Where is the line drawn between nature and technology?
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (68 replies).
More summaries
-
Geopolymers: The Theory Suggesting the Egyptian Stone Was Molded
Joseph Davidovits argues that the Giza or Puma Punku blocks were molded using geopolymers, not carved.
-
Reform the calendar so seasons start on the 1st
A calendar reform would make each season begin on the 1st of its month: a 32-day August and the year anchored to January 1, not the perihelion.
-
When did Europe's national football teams start to get more diverse?
France fielded a Black player as early as 1938 and Portugal four in 1966. The timeline of diversity in European national football teams and its causes.
-
Why Spain was not an economic engine after World War II
Spanish GDP grew 5,3% between 1939 and 1944 and only 0,14% between 1945 and 1950: neutrality in World War II was not enough to lead Europe
-
Why Spain never had an industrial bourgeoisie—but did have a rentier caste
Hispano-Suiza, the 1986 EEC and the rentier-caste thesis: why Spain never became an industrial power despite its technical talent
-
Mussolini declared war as France was already collapsing
On 10 June 1940, Italy declared war on France and the UK with a three-paragraph note. Greece, Africa and Gibraltar changed the plan.