Silvia Fernanda de Mendonça Figueirôa

500 years of mining in Brazil: a brief review

Abstract Upon the arrival of Portuguese settlers to Brazil in 1500, there was an obsession to find precious metals and gems. However, it took almost two centuries to find economic and abundant gold deposits in Minas Gerais. Gold and diamonds generated fabulous wealth to the Portuguese crown during the 18th century and part of the next. As the alluvial deposits were depleted, better techniques had to be employed to assure profitability, but a number of failures apparently eroded the motivation of Brazilian entrepreneurs to invest in mining during the Empire. As the population grew and the country started its industrialization process in the 20th century, the mining industry diversified intensely and became one of the six largest mineral producers in the world. Notwithstanding these achievements, it is likely that the best is yet to come, regarding gold, diamonds and other valuable minerals.

A criação do Museu Paulista na correspondência de Hermann von Ihering (1850- 1930)

Este artigo discute aspectos da organizacao inicial do Museu Paulista a partir das correspondencias de Hermann von Ihering com o geologo Orville A. Derby e o paleontologo Florentino Ameghino. Considera a discussao sobre a origem do Museu Paulista no contexto dos processos de consolidacao das ciencias naturais no Brasil. Estes foram marcados, no final do seculo XIX, pelas disputas por espacos de profissionalizacao, que ultrapassavam os limites do territorio nacional. Discute ainda o peso do entrelacamento das iniciativas de carater claramente individual nos processos oficiais de criacao de loci institucionais para a pesquisa.

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.

Sciences in Brazil: An Overview from 1870-1920

In Brazil, the years from 1870 onwards were perceived as a landmark in terms of scientific activities, both qualitatively and quantitatively. In 1883, the German-born journalist Karl Koseritz acknowledged the advance of Natural Sciences, at the Faculty of Medicine and at the National Museum, whose “great collections” would almost make him “sign a truce” with Rio de Janeiro. He would comment about the excellence of the institutions’ laboratories, where experiments on yellow fever, curare and anti-snake venom sera were developed. As an enthusiastic Darwinist, he observed that, at the Faculty of Medicine, several students interested in Natural Sciences were “the most pure Darwinists”. A broad understanding of the changes taking place needs to consider some central aspects, as we will discuss in the first part of the text.

Ciência e tecnologia no Brasil Imperial Guilherme Schüch, Barão de Capanema (1824-1908)

Guilherme Schuch de Capanema was a prominent member of the Brazilian imperial elite. He belonged to several important institutional loci giving his valuable contribution to the implementation of a technical-scientific culture in Brazil, and therefore to the strengthening of both the field of engineering and the engineers. However, Capanema still remains an .unknown not well known., as do the majority of the scientists of the Second Empire. This paper analyzes and stresses aspects of his professional and academic life, related to his university education, and to his practice as engineer and naturalist.

'Batedores da ciência' em território paulista: expedições de exploração e a ocupação do 'sertão' de São Paulo na transição para o século XX

Founded in 1886, the Sao Paulo Geographic and Geological Commission took part in cartographic studies and surveys of the regions natural resources that were essential to the economic exploitation of these resources and to agricultural, industrial, and urban settlement. Science and technology played a decisive role in this process, where research institutions -especially those in applied research - acted as intermediaries between science and society. The Commissions work made it possible to set up a communication network, including river and rail, both during and after the surveys, as new frontiers were being opened and settled.

Innovation and critical thinking: contributions of the history and philosophy of geological sciences to teaching, especially undergraduate teaching

Abstract This article discusses some important relations between the history and philosophy of science and the education of future professional geoscientists and teachers. A brief survey is presented of the discussions about the relations between these fields over the past 50 years, with an emphasis on the pedagogical role of the history and philosophy of science. A recent geological example is considered to pull together the conclusions advanced by some classic papers in science and geoscience. These conclusions reinforce the relevance of historical and epistemological reflections in improving the development of the profession and renewing educational practices, pointing out the potential of interdisciplinary learning and new innovative teaching methods. The careful, well-selected and documented utilization of controversial historical cases can foster experimentation and the comprehension of diverse examples of important scientific changes, thus contributing to a better education in the geosciences.

Brazilian geology for Brazilian students: The general geology textbook published by John Casper Branner in 1906

This paper focuses on a somewhat neglected subject/object—textbooks—intending to discuss and analyze the case of the book Geologia elementar preparada com referencia especial aos estudantes brazileiros e a geologia do Brazil [Elementary geology prepared with special reference to Brazilian students and to Brazilian geology], written by the North American geologist John Casper Branner (1850–1922), first published in 1906, with a second edition in 1915. It is my aim to address some questions: How and why was this textbook written? Was it molded by the expectations of its author, its publisher or the general public? How far did it express the conceptions and paradigms of the time, national styles/tendencies, or momentous controversial issues? Did the individual reputation of its author ensure its circulation? Was it inspired by, or based upon, other textbooks? I expect that the arguments contribute to the understanding that textbooks and their authors are not neutral objects or passive actors, but they actual...