Foreword

 

The 2010 edition of the Atlas de la Ciencia Mexicana (ACM) reflects the evolving status of the scientific activity in Mexico since 1900. For the first time in our country, it includes detailed statistical information on the scientific production and citation as reported by the international indices within the period 1900-2009.

 

While the scientific activity was scarce during the first half of the XX century, it has consistently kept growing in the last three decades as can be appreciated in the figures and maps included in this edition of the ACM. Another encouraging finding of this edition is the progressive decentralization process of the Mexican research groups: while the scientific activity in the 1950-1970 period was concentrated in Mexico City to levels as high as 90%, in the most recent years 2000-2009 this percentage has decreased to less than 50% in almost all the ten areas of knowledge considered in the Atlas de la Ciencia Mexicana.

 

The ACM is one of the projects integrated to the research network Complexity, Science and Society (Complejidad, Ciencia y Sociedad, http://www.red-ccs.org) which has been supported by the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACyT) in the last three years. This edition concentrates figures and maps which present, in a very clear and easy to follow approach, the evolution of the geographical and institutional distributions of the production and citation of the research done in Mexico in the period 1900-2009. This statistical data is organized in ten areas of knowledge: biology, physics, chemistry, geosciences, mathematics, engineering, agrosciences, medicine, social sciences and humanities. All the detailed information supporting these figures and maps is included in the electronic web page of the ACM (http://www.atlasdelacienciamexicana.org). This electronic site also includes a catalog of researchers working in Mexican institutions with more than 18,000 academic files.

 

In line with the CONACyT goal to place science at the center of Mexico's priorities, I am confident that the ACM will prove to be a useful tool in the necessary planning of the scientific agenda at the national level. I also expect that it will provide a valuable insight into the prospects of research and related policy challenges in Mexico in the years ahead.

 

The 2010 edition of the ACM has been possible due to the support of the Physics Department of Cinvestav, which provided space and logistic infrastructure for the members of the ACM staff. We are also grateful to the many individuals and institutions who generously gave information and time to the undertaking involved in this edition.

 

Tomás Viveros García
Director de Redes Temáticas
CONACyT