Mexico, Science Communication in

The public communication of science has a long tradition in Mexico. As far back as the colonial period in the 17th century, the Mexican scientist and historian Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora published a pamphlet in which he set forth scientific arguments to demonstrate that comets were a natural phenomenon, with nothing supernatural about them. The first scientific journals in New Spain, the Diario Literario de México and the Mercurio Volante, came out in the 18th century.

The public communication of science has been primarily linked to Mexico's universities and research institutes. Some projects, however, have been undertaken through the private initiatives of scientists, communicators, and investigators working either individually or in groups. This tradition has found its main outlet in print publications, especially books and periodicals. Over the last few decades, science journalism has had a sporadic presence in supplements attached to print and digital media. Interactive science and technology museums have been built in different parts of the country, and innovative channels of communication are being explored in informal settings, such as science cafés and itinerant workshops and exhibits. And in the last 10 years, graduate programs have been set up to provide professional preparation in the public communication of science.

The establishment in 1980 of the University Center for the Communication of Science, known today as the Dirección General de Divulgación de la Ciencia (DGDC), or General Directorate for the Dissemination of Science, at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), was an important milestone in the institutionalization of scientific dissemination in this country.

Then, in 1986, the Mexican Association for the Dissemination of Science and Technology (SOMEDICYT in its initials in Spanish) was set up to integrate the various projects and initiatives developed by both institutions and individuals and aimed at fostering the public communication of science in Mexico.