Leonardo Moledo


Leonardo Moledo was an Argentine writer and philosopher.

Life and work

Leonardo Moledo was born in Buenos Aires, in 1947. He enrolled at the public secondary school, the National College of Buenos Aires. He was accepted into the University of Buenos Aires, 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 in 1976 and in 1985, Verídico informe sobre la ciudad de Bree. That year, he premiered his first play, Las reglas del juego at the important San Martín Cultural Centre. He premiered his only other published play, El regreso al hogar, in 1987.
Moledo became well known among local readers for his tales of science fiction, which were regularly published in magazines popular among young readers, as well as in the cultural sections of leading Buenos Aires dailies such as Clarín and Página/12. Some of the most notable among these articles were Agenda Científica and Un viaje por el universo. He also hosted Ciencia y Conciencia, a television program on the subject which aired on the public Channel 13, in 1989. The popularity of his articles led Moledo to begin writing books of cognitive science, 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
  • La evolución
  • El Big Bang
  • Dioses y demonios en el átomo
  • Curiosidades del Planeta Tierra
  • La relatividad del movimiento
  • Curiosidades de la ciencia
  • Diez teorías que conmovieron al mundo
  • El café de los científicos, sobre Dios y otros debates
  • El café de los científicos, de Einstein a la clonación
  • La leyenda de las estrellas
  • Lavar los platos
  • Los mitos de la ciencia.
Moledo was honored a Konex Award 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, 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: