“There’s no science without an audience”

Abstract

In this interview, Mauricio Nieto Olarte talks with Óscar Moreno Martínez about his life in relation to Science and Technology Studies (STS). Nieto Olarte takes us on a journey that goes from his childhood—when he saw the moon landing on TV—to his current research horizon—when he intends to finish his ambitious Una historia de la verdad en Occidente [A history of truth in the West]. Likewise, he remembers his time in England, where he studied alongside great figures such as James Secord and Simon Schaefer. He also analyzes the influence of the actor-network theory on his works and keeps asking himself if God—that God on which Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo put all his faith so that the ship that brought him to the New World wouldn’t sink—was another actor in the network. He reflects on his experience as subdirector at Colciencias and the future of this field, which is still much more about connections between disciplines and not the isolated effort of super-specialization.