During the first half of the twentieth century, the coal-producing region of Santa Catarina state underwent intense industrialization that directly impacted various ways of life; various health problems emerged in the re...During the first half of the twentieth century, the coal-producing region of Santa Catarina state underwent intense industrialization that directly impacted various ways of life; various health problems emerged in the region as a result of coal mining and impeded economic progress. As the government was unable to meet health demands, local businesses established partnerships with female religious orders that provided assistance services in the villages where workers lived. As part of such a partnership, the Pequenas Irmãs da Divina Providência created an album of texts, drawings, and photographs as a report describing their activities from 1955 to 1957 in one such village in the region.
The Ouro Preto School of Pharmacy was founded in 1839 and was the first pharmacy school in Latin America independent from a medical school. At the end of the nineteenth century, it had a collection of French anatomical m...The Ouro Preto School of Pharmacy was founded in 1839 and was the first pharmacy school in Latin America independent from a medical school. At the end of the nineteenth century, it had a collection of French anatomical models made by Deyrolle, Dr. Auzoux, and Vasseur-Tramod, many produced from wax or papier-mâché. This project involved recovering, identifying, cleaning, restoring, and exhibiting seventeen models found in various facilities from Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto. The models in good condition were exhibited in the Museum of Pharmacy (where this work was carried out) as part of the teaching collection for the Ouro Preto pharmacy course.
This interview explores the participation of Margarida de Souza Neves, professor emeritus at Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, in the creation of the Graduate Program in the History of the Sciences and...This interview explores the participation of Margarida de Souza Neves, professor emeritus at Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, in the creation of the Graduate Program in the History of the Sciences and Health at Casa de Oswaldo Cruz. To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of this graduate program, professors who have served as coordinators met with Professor Neves to reflect on the meanings of shaping a program in the area of history specializing in research on science and health in Brazil.
Brazil has experienced several major epidemics of influenza, and the most destructive was in 1918-1919. This article focuses on mortality, mitigation policies, and the consequences of pandemic influenza during the nation...Brazil has experienced several major epidemics of influenza, and the most destructive was in 1918-1919. This article focuses on mortality, mitigation policies, and the consequences of pandemic influenza during the national period. We provide the first mortality estimates for the 1890-1894 influenza pandemic and correct figures for later epidemics. The 1918-1919 episode cost more lives than assumed, although some cities suffered less, possibly because of public health actions. Influenza caused pandemics in 1957, 1968, 1976, and 2009, but these did not cause unusual outbreaks in Brazil.
Biology, like most scientific disciplines, emerged in the nineteenth century. However, disciplinary institutionalisation processes are not linear; a concept can be proposed, but not develop. Biology originated in the pre...Biology, like most scientific disciplines, emerged in the nineteenth century. However, disciplinary institutionalisation processes are not linear; a concept can be proposed, but not develop. Biology originated in the presence of established traditions such as anatomy, physiology, botany, and zoology, which represent the thematic and practical diversity under which it was understood. Based on the records of the annual meetings of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, the process by which biology emerged will be described. We will also recount how the discipline underwent changes throughout the century, where contrasting methodologies and theories were emphasized at different times.
This is a study about the implementation of the eight-hour day (1919) in Spanish pharmacy offices and the legislative antecedents that led to it: the Sunday rest law and the law regulating commercial dependency. These he...This is a study about the implementation of the eight-hour day (1919) in Spanish pharmacy offices and the legislative antecedents that led to it: the Sunday rest law and the law regulating commercial dependency. These health establishments were contemplated in some of the exceptional situations that marked these provisions, which were different depending on whether the worker was "external" or was part of the "internship" system. The article also collects and analyzes the points of view of pharmacists and auxiliaries, that is, employers and workers, through the most prominent professional press, which represented the conflicting interests of these professionals.
In 1967, the founding of the Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (Conicyt) constituted a milestone by creating a national and public body, different from the university, which coordinated and fina...In 1967, the founding of the Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (Conicyt) constituted a milestone by creating a national and public body, different from the university, which coordinated and financed scientific-technological activity, linked to the productive development in Chile, and the history of Latin American research councils. Conicyt led a demanding process by debating the contents of a scientific policy in a period in which Chile experienced opposing political-economic development models that conditioned its formulation and objectives. This article characterizes the origins and development of this commission from 1967 to 1981 when the Fondo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología was created and a new institutional stage began.
This article analyzes the scientific thinking of the German polytechnic engineer Heinrich August Anton Gerber, who was employed by Minas Gerais province from 1858 to 1867. We explore the cultural and intellectual signifi...This article analyzes the scientific thinking of the German polytechnic engineer Heinrich August Anton Gerber, who was employed by Minas Gerais province from 1858 to 1867. We explore the cultural and intellectual significance of his activities, particularly the idea of creating a private company within the roadway infrastructure sector and his mediating role in the importation of scientific instruments and books. Gerber also appears to have been part of efforts to send Brazilians to study engineering in Paris. Cultural exchanges between Brazil and Europe are investigated, along with the application of scientific knowledge and his encounters with practical economic and social challenges in the interior of the Empire of Brazil.
What does the collaboration between the sociologist Florestan Fernandes, Aldo Solari, and the Latin American Institute of International Relations (ILARI), an organ of the Congress for Cultural Freedom, tell us about Fern...What does the collaboration between the sociologist Florestan Fernandes, Aldo Solari, and the Latin American Institute of International Relations (ILARI), an organ of the Congress for Cultural Freedom, tell us about Fernandes's thinking between 1969 and 1972? The analysis of official ILARI documents and correspondence and texts by Fernandes and Solari suggests that this episode reveals Fernandes's concern with defending space for science on a continent marked by authoritarianism, thereby enabling a more nuanced understanding of his trajectory than one marked by two distinct phases, "reformist-academic" and "revolutionary-political." From ILARI's perspective, the partnership with Fernandes is revealed as critical in lending its actions intellectual legitimacy.
Intensive efforts to urbanize the city of Rio de Janeiro and civilize its inhabitants began in the nineteenth century. Many of the population's values and habits fell out of favor compared with the new way of life that w...Intensive efforts to urbanize the city of Rio de Janeiro and civilize its inhabitants began in the nineteenth century. Many of the population's values and habits fell out of favor compared with the new way of life that was being disseminated. The press was considered one of the most important instruments in this process of civilization, publishing a wide variety of knowledge and novelties in its periodicals that suggested a new more urbane and civilized way for the population to live. This article examines the pedagogical discourse constructed during this period, specifically recommendations related to bodily hygiene and care.
The material memory of the 12th International Congress of Zoology, held in Lisbon in 1935 includes insignias - the starfish - and caricatures of zoologists. Through an investigation of the archives at the University of L...The material memory of the 12th International Congress of Zoology, held in Lisbon in 1935 includes insignias - the starfish - and caricatures of zoologists. Through an investigation of the archives at the University of Lisbon's National Museum of Natural History and Science, we intend to investigate the material landscape as conceived by the zoologist Artur Ricardo Jorge by drawing epistemologically on the potentialities of the biography of scientific objects. This research note reveals a scientific discourse translated into materialities circulated in public spaces in the globalized Europe of the 1930s, with references from scientific power, in the context of Portugal's Estado Novo regime, enshrined in its 1933 constitution.
This article shows how images relating to chemistry sets express the predominance of the male gender in toys that simulate technical, gestural, and laboratory-related aspects of science, creating patterns of conduct towa...This article shows how images relating to chemistry sets express the predominance of the male gender in toys that simulate technical, gestural, and laboratory-related aspects of science, creating patterns of conduct towards the professional vocation of being a scientist. Priority is given to documents produced by the companies Gilbert (1920) and Chemcraft (1922) that are kept in the archives of the Chemical Heritage Foundation in the USA. What Joan Scott calls the social organization of sexual difference is discussed and the illustrations are analyzed, demonstrating a predominance of male figures showing how to "be a child," playing at being a scientist.
The article presents part of a research process on the material culture of science education, particularly natural sciences, in Argentina, between the second half of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twenti...The article presents part of a research process on the material culture of science education, particularly natural sciences, in Argentina, between the second half of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century. We used some methodological tools that were useful to manage the various sources, such as the biographical perspective of the cultural life of objects, the notion of circulation of knowledge and scientific instruments, the complex network of relationships between artifacts, knowledge, and local scientific-educational practices. This article shows some indicators and examples of the scientific materials studied.
Under the directorship of Clemente Onelli (1904-1924), the Jardín Zoológico de Buenos Aires became a major public attraction and gained an international reputation for its innovations in animal keeping and as a supplier...Under the directorship of Clemente Onelli (1904-1924), the Jardín Zoológico de Buenos Aires became a major public attraction and gained an international reputation for its innovations in animal keeping and as a supplier of Latin American fauna. It was a hybrid institution that combined the tasks of public instruction, zoological research, and acclimatization of useful animals, and also served as a symbol of national pride. Despite its seemingly peripheral geographical location, the institution was firmly integrated in the global network of zoological gardens. This paper utilizes a transnational perspective to tease out the numerous, multidirectional exchanges of animals and knowledge between the Jardín Zoológico de Buenos Aires and Northern metropolises.
In 1895, Nicolás Sáenz proposed to the Chilean government to purchase a collection of "Inca" objects brought from Lima. This acquisition was approved in 1897. Despite the difficulties caused by the War of the Pacific, th...In 1895, Nicolás Sáenz proposed to the Chilean government to purchase a collection of "Inca" objects brought from Lima. This acquisition was approved in 1897. Despite the difficulties caused by the War of the Pacific, the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural (Chile) continued to acquire Peruvian antiquities, following a tradition of comparative studies of material culture. Within the framework of social evolutionism, these antiquities were a measure of civilization, a reference from which to evaluate the material culture of the pre-Hispanic peoples of Chile. This article analyzes the acquisition of the Sáenz collection as the culmination of a process of transition towards an archeology that focused on the new post-war territorial acquisitions in the Pacific.