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Scientific Culture and Mineralogical Sciences in the Luso-Brazilian Empire: The Work of João da Silva Feijó (1760–1824) in Ceará

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 October 2005

Maria Margaret Lopes
Affiliation:
Instituto de Geociências, UNICAMP Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
Clarete Paranhos da Silva
Affiliation:
Instituto de Geociências, UNICAMP Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
Silvia Fernanda de M. Figueirôa
Affiliation:
Instituto de Geociências, UNICAMP Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
Rachel Pinheiro
Affiliation:
Instituto de Geociências, UNICAMP Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract

This paper argues that eighteenth-century Portuguese scientific policies promoted the inclusion of its main colony, Brazil, in the Enlightenment environment. This was accomplished by innovative initiatives, such as voyages to explore the colonial territory. Natural history activities, especially in mining, remained at the center of this political project and relied on co-opting groups of Portuguese in America. Based on the life of João da Silva Feijó, this article outlines the relevant connections between Feijó's scientific activities and the first Brazilian national expedition in the 1850s, which led to discussion about developing the Brazilian nation. This analysis is aimed toward the growing consensus in historiography of the sciences that scientific activities practiced outside European centers gave rise to complex interactions involving the processes of mondialization of sciences and the construction of a local scientific context.

Type
Articles
Copyright
2005 Cambridge University Press

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