This article presents a conceptual framework to structure the discussion of the interaction between knowledge, technology and production; it also contains an assessment of the challenge held out by Western culture to the rest of the world, and to Latin America in particular, in recent centuries. We then move on to examine the historical evolution of science and technology in Latin America and Peru, seeking a better understanding of the reasons for its relative backwardness. The article ends with a number of observations on the prospects for science and technology in Latin America on the eve of the 21st century, with particular reference to the debate on "universal science' versus "Latin American science'. -Author