A Academia Real das Ciências de Lisboa (1779-1834) : ciências e hibridismo numa periferia europeia
The Royal Academy of Sciences of Lisbon has occupied a subsidiary place, sometimes barely ornamental, or even totally absent, in the historical narrative in general and, in the history of science in particular. This dissertation aims at reversing this state of affairs by characterizing the process o...
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| Format: | Dissertation |
| Language: | Portuguese |
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ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
01-01-2015
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| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | The Royal Academy of Sciences of Lisbon has occupied a subsidiary place, sometimes barely ornamental, or even totally absent, in the historical narrative in general and, in the history of science in particular. This dissertation aims at reversing this state of affairs by characterizing the process of production and organization of science in a European periphery which was orchestrated by the Royal Academy of Sciences of Lisbon, in the period since its foundation in 1779, to its first statutory amendment, in 1834. This goal was achieved pursuing the following thematic axes. First, by determining the social-professional universe of its members and its evolution during the first fifty years of existence. Secondly, by combining these results with the different academic programmatic lines that emerge from the analysis of both the non-periodic printed texts, and the Academy´s regular publication, “History and Memories of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Lisbon”. And finally, by the analysis of the prize competition programs implemented by the Academy, the technical and scientific committees in which the Academy was involved in, as well as its technical and scientific advisory role, which enables to clarify the relationship forged by the Academy with power and government structures.Based on the evidence collected, the following conclusions ensue: a) the structure and programmatic practices of the Academy resulted from processes of appropriation and transformation of existing programs and models of production and organization of knowledge, dependent on the social and political context in which the Academy emerged; b) the Academy social and professional context, and specifically its generational make-up and reproduction, initially marked by a context of end of Old Regime, induced a concomitant shift in the respective programmatic options; and finally c) the Academy´s European peripheral status, together with its colonial centrality enables to explain both its network of Luso-Brazilian members as well as its programmatic profile. In conclusion, the first fifty years of the Royal Academy of Sciences were characterized by a programmatic hybridism, behind which stood a polysemic understanding of "Sciences" which were the Academy´s object. These idiosyncratic characteristics account for the multifarious outlooks of its evolving programmatic nature: Economic society, medical society, government agency were the successive faces of these different transfigurations that marked the programmatic route of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Lisbon in the first fifty years of its existence. |
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| ISBN: | 9798505534922 |