Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora

Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora was a polymath born in Mexico City in 1645 and counted among the first great intellectuals born in the Americas. Dismissed from the Jesuit novitiate in 1668 and later ordained a secular priest, he won the university chair of Mathematics and Astrology in 1672 and taught mainly astronomy. His Philosophical Manifest Against the Comets of 1681 argued that comets should not be read as omens, and his Libra Astronomica y Filosofica of 1690 defended that view against the Jesuit Eusebio Kino with the principle that in the sciences authority has no place, only proof and demonstration. He also drew the first map of all New Spain, served as royal geographer, wrote poetry and history, and was a friend of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, whose eulogy he delivered. He died in 1700.