ReproductionScience made to get to the roots of the issues: a heritage of the groupReproduction
They had much more than 1% talent but, as Thomas Edison had warned, they “transpired” 99% of their time to provide Brazilian science with its initial thrust. They were criticized and ridiculed by their contemporaries, in spite of their efforts to “make Brazil become more and better known by our own people than by strange foreigners,” as Gonçalves Dias said at the session of the Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro/IHGB, Brazilian Historical and Geographical Institute, which in 1856 created the Comissão Científica de Exploração Scientific Exploration Committee, in the presence of Emperor dom Pedro II. This committee was a pioneering entity comprised of naturalists who went off to the State of Ceará in 1859 to “discover” the country scientifically. The adventure was demeaned by the press, which saw nothing “useful” in the samples brought by the group for the National Museum and dubbed the group – the Butterfly Commission.” These naturalists attempted to organize various scientific institutions and, aware that “publishing was a must,” they wrote articles for each and any kind of journal. However, most of these articles were targeted at readers interested in literature and not in science. That didn’t matter: if there was space, they wrote articles that could be descriptions of botanical species written in Latin. Their strategy was to take advantage of the wide circulation of these journals and hope that, if they got lucky, the texts would be translated and sent abroad to publicize the fact that there were serious scientists working in Brazil. In spite of all this “perspiration,” for a long time historiography preferred to view these naturalists as well-intentioned amateurs and not as members of a scientific community, which only appeared when universities were established.
“These naturalists were very active and knowledgeable about European scientific production. They considered themselves as collaborators of scientific progress. They criticized foreign publications according to their values, instead of accepting passively what came from abroad. They outlined scientific research in their time and contributed to the shaping of future generations,” explains biologist Rachel Pinheiro. Rachel is a member of the generation of science historians who see the continuity in Brazil’s scientific endeavors as being – supported on the giants’ shoulders,– rather than as the result of an – insight” that made science materialize from nothing. The researcher, whose advisor was Margaret Lopes, has just submitted her doctorate thesis O que nossos cientistas escreviam: algumas das publicações em ciências no Brasil do século XIX, at Unicamp. “This group adopted existing models to create scientific associations and institutions in line with the Brazilian reality, which resulted in the noteworthy adaptation of foreign sciences and institutions to the country. Scientists criticized and judged European productions, and engaged in dialogues in which Brazilian and European naturalists exchanged ideas and formed partnerships to work on projects.” However, the names of these talented – perspiring scientists? are not widely known. They include Guilherme Schüch de Capanema, Francisco Freire Allemão, Franciso Leopoldo Burlamaque and, – the exceptions,– Manoel Ferreira Lagos and Manoel Araújo Porto-Alegre. “These scientists, who were also actively engaged in practical activities, were the protagonists of the consolidation of a true scientific community in Brazil in the 19th century. They were making an effort to obtain international recognition and create space for the practice of science, and for the publication and dissemination of the scientific achievements in our country,” says the researcher.
Their common ground was their link to the IHGB, their enthusiasm for the Scientific Committee, their close ties to the Museu Nacional, National Museum of Rio de Janeiro and to the Escola Militar, Military Academy. Most of them held government positions in the Imperial government. The Emperor and his government were strong supporters of the sciences in Brazil and particularly of the work performed by these naturalists. The fact that the peak of their work occurred between 1850 and 1870 is the ultimate proof of the great endeavors they were involved in at that time. “That was the time when the State encouraged people at various levels, especially at the IHGB, to reflect on Brazil as a modern nation. They involved themselves in issues related to the shaping of a national identity; for this elite, modernity would be achieved through scientific instruction and development,” says Rachel. “Most of these naturalists were in favor of abolishing slavery, not for humanitarian reasons, but because they believed that slavery was an outdated form of labor at a time when agriculture was already mechanized to a certain extent.” It is important to keep in mind that a proposal to create a learning institution focused on the teaching of the natural sciences had been envisioned as far back as the 1830’s; the natural sciences at that time were linked to medicine and engineering.
“Given that the idea was to consolidate an empire in America, it stood to reason that it was necessary to create the nation’s own identity. Therefore, after reproducing the mother country’s institutions in the new kingdom, it was necessary to consolidate these spaces and create new ones. All existing and new spaces had a scientific community, part of which had already been trained in Brazil. This community sought to create its own scientific issues to address, with the country as the object of the scientific investigation,” says Silvia Figueirôa, a specialist in the history of science and full professor at Unicamp’s Geosciences Institute. Many engineers linked to the Escola Militar started to organize technical-scientific organizations in the aftermath of the spurt of modernization that Brazil went through after 1870. These organizations allowed the country to finally achieve the desired – level of civilization” in the future. “This moment expresses the gap between – pure science” and “applied science” that had not existed until then. A group of men at the IHGB dedicated their efforts to finding an institutional space for natural sciences, comparing this space to an academy of sciences. A major achievement accomplished by this group was the Scientific Committee, created in 1859. In addition to its role of enhancing Brazilian science, the committee also focused on aspects of application: the possibility of the discovery of some natural resource that would become profitable and provide subsidies for government action, by mapping out the country’s riches, the indoctrination of the natives, and the discovery and construction of ways of communication, etc.” the researcher points out.
Reproductions from the book "A comédia Urbana: de Daumier a Porto-Alegre"Brazilian forest (1853) as drawn by Manoel de Araújo Porto-AlegreReproductions from the book "A comédia Urbana: de Daumier a Porto-Alegre"
Allemão
Rachel adds that their efforts were not restricted only to the IHGB, as attested to by the creation, in 1850, of the Sociedade Vellosiana, Vellosiana Society, by Francisco Allemão. This was the beginning of the institutional separation between natural history and the other sciences, such as engineering, physics and mathematics. The meetings of the society, with the acquiescence of the Emperor, were held at the Museu Nacional. The objective of another similar organization, the Palestra Científica, established by Guilherme de Capanema at the Escola Militar Military School, was to “focus on the study of the physical and mathematical sciences, especially in regard to their application in Brazil.” Both institutions realized that it was necessary to voice their ideas through a publication that would divulge their work: the Vellosiana published Guanabara, “a monthly, artistic, scientific and literary magazine,” while the Palestra Científica had the support of Revista Brasileira, “a journal of the sciences, letters and art.” “The dispersed nature of natural history and science publications in Brazil in the 19th century helps create the image of the naturalists as people who did not publish anything and therefore did not engage in modern science. Brazilian scientific publications, more numerous than had been previously believed, yet still less numerous than similar European initiatives, were viewed by the naturalists in those times as being essential for their scientific work,” Rachel states. This led the researcher to look for publications that were not specialized in science and scientific texts. She found a lot of material, most of which was unheard of in the field of the historiography of the sciences. “During a preliminary survey that I conducted at the Biblioteca Nacional, National Library, I found more than 40 periodicals, published from 1840 to 1870, whose titles were evidence of the existence of scientific publications,” she says.
The so-called Exposições Universais, Universal Exhibitions, were another important space for the group. These kinds of exhibitions were very much in vogue in the second half of the 19th century, because “they made it possible for nations to show off their natural and industrial potential and emphasize their role and space in the international scenario.” “In the case of Brazil, the process of the institutionalization of the natural sciences and the rise of a scientific community in the mid 1850’s drew the attention of the naturalists to this ‘natural potential’ which seemingly represented the way for Brazil’s enrichment and growth by means of its industry,” the researcher explains. Rachel points out that, according to this point of view, the country’s participation at the Universal Exhibitions to show its wealth and industrial potential was an effective manner of showing other nations Brazil’s level of awareness and knowledge of its own potential. According to this line of reasoning, the exhibitions were an efficient means of propaganda, attracting foreign buyers and investors. “This was in line with a moment in the history of science when concentrating exclusively on production gave way to communicating scientific ideas, practices and values.”
“For all these reasons, considering the scientific community of the mid 19th century is focusing on the collective and institutional practice of science. Scientists at those times conducted their professional activities at institutions, or were employees or coordinators contracted to do so. They were not alone or isolated from the rest of the world and would seek the most updated information on the sciences in Europe. At they same time, they adapted these European sciences to the local scenario,” Rachel states. “Concurrently, they sought political and social strength by means of creating scientific associations such as the Vellosiana or the Palestra Científica.” Everybody agreed that it was necessary to herald their discoveries and, to this end, many efforts were made to produce these publications; the publications, whether specialized or not, would publish the scientific production of these naturalists. Thus, even if most of these periodicals could not be considered as being scientific, they certainly had a hand in shaping Brazilian scientific culture of that time. “They were a means of divulging, of communicating with the public, and a means of publishing scientific articles. All of this helped consolidate a paradigm which no longer challenges the existence of scientific activities in Brazil prior to the creation of the universities. Indeed, it is even possible, given all the aspects raised by this group, to state that they played a major role in the creation of universities in Brazil.” After so much perspiration, it must be acknowledged that they had 99% pure Brazilian talent.
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