André Felipe Cândido da Silva

Medicina, ciência e poder: as relações entre França, Alemanha e Brasil no período de 1919 a 1942

This research note proposes hypotheses and frameworks for the study of the dynamics of the German and French medical and scientific movement aimed at Latin America, and Brazil in particular, between 1919 and 1942. It also seeks to comprehend to what extent the efforts at intellectual cooperation and the concomitant flow of ideas, institutional models, common research agendas, and action strategies aimed at expanding the Franco-Germanic field of influence in this part of the American continent, were put into practice.

A campanha contra a broca-do-café em São Paulo (1924-1927)

When coffee was Brazils chief source of wealth and Sao Paulo was the absolute leader in its production and trade, a plague suddenly came to threaten this mighty economic asset. The cause was a tiny insect called the coffee borer, which began showing up on plantations in the Campinas area. The Sao Paulo state government learned of the pest in May 1924 via news from Campinas. The situation was so serious that the state government formed a scientific commission, headed by Arthur Neiva, who was to lead the battle against the borer. The ensuing campaign put in place a sound system of research and surveillance, complemented by broad-reaching scientific education that relied on such vanguard tools as cinema. In late 1927, the Commission was officially dissolved, following creation of a permanent agricultural research center: the Instituto Biologico de Defesa Agricola e Animal (Biological Institute for Agricultural and Animal Defense).

Um brasileiro no Reich de Guilherme II: Henrique da Rocha Lima, as relações Brasil-Alemanha e o Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, 1901-1909

This article follows the career of the Brazilian physician Henrique da Rocha Lima, one of the first to join the group of young researchers working at the Instituto Soroterápico de Manguinhos (Instituto Oswaldo Cruz). It describes his first voyage to Germany where he specialized in microbiology and pathological anatomy, training that shaped his subsequent professional identity. The tensions and dilemmas experienced by Rocha Lima provide an insight into what it meant to dedicate oneself to a scientific career in Brazil at the start of the twentieth century. They also reveal the importance of the relations with the German-speaking world for the experimental medicine that became established under the leadership of Oswaldo Cruz.

Nas trincheiras do front intelectual. Henrique da Rocha Lima e a Primeira Guerra Mundial no Jornal do Commercio

This article discusses texts published by the Brazilian researcher Henrique da Rocha Lima in the Jornal do Commercio during the first year of the “Great War”. Rocha Lima wrote his impressions from Hamburg, where he said he had first-hand information with which sought to discuss reports by French and British agencies. The Allied propaganda found a fertile ground in Brazil, which was favored by the francophile of our elites. The Brazilian researcher combated the idea that Germany was causing the war, and denied what he saw as calumny and lies spread by the allies, as news about the atrocities committed by the Germans in enemy territory. Rocha Lima’s engagement was in the opposite trends of the Brazilian scholars and scientific world, for the most part friendly to the Allied cause, what also represents his public profile that would become the hallmark of his career.

A trajetória de Henrique da Rocha Lima e as relações teuto-brasileiras (1901-1956)

The career of Henrique da Rocha Lima is closely linked to cultural and scientific relations between Brazil and Germany. He pursued his scientific work at biomedical research institutions in both countries, but it was in Germany that he attained international standing, thanks to his research in the fields of microbiology, pathology and tropical medicine. His prestige and active participation in both Brazils and Germanys scientific communities meant he was able to further academic interchange between both nations, mobilizing many people and institutions to contribute to this process. I present the obstacles and challenges faced in studying this complex character, whose career sheds light on the machinations of international scientific relations and some socio-historical processes that marked the institutionalization of science in Brazil.

Crises propiciam mudanças

We are reaching the conclusion of this turbulent year of 2015, ending with the dramatic images of a disaster that has stained the landscapes of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo with mud. We have watched on with heavy hearts as the amber sludge has coursed down the Doce River and spread along the shores of Espírito Santo. The midand long-term consequences of this tragedy are hard to predict. But one way or another, it should prompt us to reflect on the economic model that involves the continuous exploitation of natural resources and the complex relationship between the state and national and transnational companies. This relationship is also submerged in a slurry of corruption that indiscriminately affects almost every political party in Brazil, even if some segments of society and the mainstream media are selective in their apportioning of blame. On the other side of the Atlantic, the Old World is suffering the consequences of the attacks that took the lives of over 130 people in Paris. They seem to result not so much from a putative “clash of civilizations” as from a sequence of regrettable actions taken by western powers, whose effects have drawn reprisals that have only ended up entrenching more deeply the bitterness and enmity they are designed to curb. The city that suffered these attacks also received world leaders from November 30 to December 11 in a bid to hammer out a new international agreement to slow down the pace of climate change and its effects. It is hoped that the states’ representatives show greater willingness to set targets that can halt the rise in the temperature of the planet and do not reproduce the failings of the Copenhagen conference in 2009. One of the most comprehensive documents about the effects of climate change in Brazil1 warns of the effects that extreme weather conditions like extended droughts and heatwaves can have on health, the profile and distribution of agricultural crops, the availability of water resources, and energy and transportation infrastructure. This December, Brazil hosts the 15th National Health Conference, of great importance in the history of public health in Brazil, which in the current circumstances is particularly important for highlighting health as a right of all citizens – contradicting the prevailing EDITORS’ NOTE