Leonardo Moledo
Encyclopedia
Life and work
Leonardo Moledo was born in Buenos AiresBuenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, in 1947. He enrolled at the prestigious, public secondary school, the National College of Buenos Aires
Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires
Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires is a public high school in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In the tradition of the European gymnasium it provides a free education that includes classical languages such as Latin and Greek. The school is one of the most prestigious in Argentina...
. He was accepted into the University of Buenos Aires
University of Buenos Aires
The University of Buenos Aires is the largest university in Argentina and the largest university by enrollment in Latin America. Founded on August 12, 1821 in the city of Buenos Aires, it consists of 13 faculties, 6 hospitals, 10 museums and is linked to 4 high schools: Colegio Nacional de Buenos...
, where he received a degree from the School of Natural and Exact Sciences.
Moledo was later a research fellow at the National Research Council, during which time he earned a History Degree at the University of Buenos Aires. He wrote his first novel La mala guita (Dirty Money) in 1976 and in 1985, Verídico informe sobre la ciudad de Bree (True Report on the City of Bree
Bree, Belgium
Bree is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. On January 1, 2006 Bree had a total population of 14,503. The total area is 64.96 km² which gives it a population density of 223 inhabitants per square km...
). That year, he premiered his first play, Las reglas del juego (The Rules of the Game) at the important San Martín Cultural Centre
Centro Cultural General San Martín
The General San Martín Cultural Centre is a cultural centre located in Buenos Aires, Argentina near the major thoroughfare Corrientes Avenue.It is run by the city government, and hosts diverse cultural and artistic events...
. He premiered his only other published play, El regreso al hogar (Returning Home), in 1987.
Moledo became well-known among local readers for his tales of science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
, which were regularly published in magazines popular among young readers (El Péndulo and Minotauro), as well as in the cultural sections of leading Buenos Aires dailies such as Clarín
Clarín (newspaper)
Clarín is the largest newspaper in Argentina, published by the Grupo Clarín media group. It was founded by Roberto Noble on 28 August 1945. It is politically centrist but popularly understood to oppose the Kirchner government...
and Página/12
Página/12
Página/12 is a newspaper based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.Página/12 was founded on May 25, 1987, by journalist Jorge Lanata in association with writer Osvaldo Soriano and investigative journalist Horacio Verbitsky...
. Some of the most notable among these articles were Agenda Científica and Un viaje por el universo (A Journey Through the Universe). He also hosted Ciencia y Conciencia (Science and Conscience), a television program on the subject which aired on the public Channel 13
Canal 7 Argentina
Canal Siete, TV Pública or TV Pública Digital is an Argentine television network founded on October 17, 1951. Between 1979 and 1999, the network was known as Argentina Televisora Color . During the 1978 World Cup, it was known as A78TV.Owned, financed and operated by the Argentine State, Canal 7 is...
, in 1989. The popularity of his articles led Moledo to begin writing books of cognitive science
Cognitive science
Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary scientific study of mind and its processes. It examines what cognition is, what it does and how it works. It includes research on how information is processed , represented, and transformed in behaviour, nervous system or machine...
, which he viewed as "furthering science, by other means."
Since 1995, Moledo has authored numerous books in that genre, including:
- De las Tortugas a las estrellas (From Tortoises to the Stars, 1995)
- La evolución (Evolution, 1995)
- El Big Bang (1995)
- Dioses y demonios en el átomo (Gods and Demons in the Atom, 1996)
- Curiosidades del Planeta Tierra (Curiosities of Planet Earth, 1997)
- La relatividad del movimiento (The Relativity of Movement, 1997)
- Curiosidades de la ciencia (Curiosities of Science, 2000)
- Diez teorías que conmovieron al mundo (Ten Theories that Shook the World - volumes I and II, with Esteban Magnani, 2006)
- El café de los científicos, sobre Dios y otros debates (The Scientists' Café: On God and Other Debates, with Martín de Ambrosio, 2006)
- El café de los científicos, de Einstein a la clonación (The Scientists' Café: From Einstein to Cloning, with Martín de Ambrosio, 2007)
- La leyenda de las estrellas (The Legend of the Stars, 2007)
- Lavar los platos (Back to the Drawing Board', with Ignacio Jawtuschenko, 2008)
- Los mitos de la ciencia (Myths of Science, 2008).
Moledo was honored a Konex Award
Konex Award
Konex Foundation awards, or simple Konex awards are cultural awards from the Konex Foundation to Argentine cultural personalities.Created in 1980, where conceived as a way to reward the Argentine personalities and institutions of different fields, as well as to stimulate the beginners.Even though...
(the highest in the Argentine cultural realm) in 1994 as the Best Writer in Argentine Science Fiction, and in 1997 as the Man of the Decade in Argentine Journalism. He was appointed Director of the Buenos Aires Planetarium
Galileo Galilei planetarium
The Galileo Galilei planetarium, commonly known as Planetario, is located in Parque Tres de Febrero in the Palermo district of Buenos Aires, Argentina.-History:...
, in 2000. He served in that capacity until 2007, while also teaching at the Universities of Buenos Aires, Quilmes and Entre Ríos. He continues to teach and contribute opinion columns in Página/12.
On his interest in science as a philosopher, Moledo once stated that: