Clarete Paranhos da Silva

Aspectos mineralógicos das "Viagens Filosóficas" pelo território brasileiro na transição do século XVIII para o século XIX

The late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century scientific expeditions undertaken by the Crown earned Portugal and its possessions a place on the periods scientific stage. These Philosophical Voyages provide us with invaluable elements for understanding the process by which the natural sciences were institutionalized in Brazil, especially - in the case of this article - the mineralogical sciences.

Enlightened Mineralogists: Mining Knowledge in Colonial Brazil, 1750-1825

This case study of the intellectual and professional trajectories of two Brazilian colonial scientists illustrates the constitution of a local scientific context, its characteristics, and its limits. In Brazil, colonial scientists saw themselves as inextricably linked to the Portuguese metropolis; their science was not seen as an instrument of colonial resistance, but rather as an improving factor, mobilizing natural resources for the achievement of economic and intellectual goals set by both imperial and colonial interests. The development of science in Brazil was not so much a process of transmission as a part of the same process that occurred contemporaneously in Portugal.

Subsídios para o uso da História das Ciências no ensino: exemplos extraídos das geociências

Este artigo discute a relevância da utilizacao da Historia das Ciencias no ensino de diferentes disciplinas, a saber: Historia, Lingua Portuguesa, Ciencias e Matematica. Apresenta exemplos desta integracao, baseados em pesquisas de mestrado e/ou doutorado. E nossa intencao reforcar a percepcao da importância, em todos os niveis de ensino, da Historia das Ciencias, entendida como uma historia que apresenta a ciencia em toda a sua historicidade, como uma pratica social e cultural realizada por seres humanos imersos numa cultura, pois, dentro de nosso marco teorico, a ciencia e uma pratica sociocultural. Assim sendo, a Historia das Ciencias contribui para a conscientizacao sobre o funcionamento da investigacao cientifica - assim como suas apropriacoes tecnologicas -, e para o questionamento da transmissao dogmatica de conhecimentos.This article discusses the relevance of the use of the History of science in education, within different disciplines – namely, History, Portuguese Language, Science, and Mathematics. It presents examples of this integration, based upon researches (masters degree and, or Ph.D. thesis). We intend to strengthen the perception of the importance of the History of Science at all educational levels, understood as a history that presenting science in its full historicity, as a social and cultural praxis carried out by human beings immersed in a culture. Therefore, from our theoretical framework, science is a social-cultural practice. Therefore, the History of Science contributes to the awareness of the functioning of scientific inquiry, as well as its technological appropriations and can question the dogmatic transmission of knowledge.

O ouro sob as Luzes: a 'arte' de minerar no discurso do naturalista João da Silva Feijó (1760-1824)

Joao da Silva Feijo was a Luso-Brazilian naturalist commissioned by the Portuguese Crown to conduct natural history research between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. He was sent to the Cape Verde islands (1783-97) and then to the captaincy of Ceara, in Brazil (1799). Upon returning from Cape Verde to Lisbon, prior to his Brazilian mission, Feijo laid out his opinions on Brazils gold mines in a manuscript entitled Discourse. The present article offers some preliminary comments on the ideas found in Discourse. Given its importance as part of a larger set of period texts on the mining crisis in Brazil, this manuscript - never before published - is also transcribed herein.