From mineralogy to geology: forty years that changed the sciences in Brazil (1876-1919)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23925/2178-2911.2023v27espp124-141Keywords:
history of science, teaching of geology, geological map, textbook, John Casper Branner (1850-1922)Abstract
This study is the findings on the history of geologic mapping of Brazil and the alternatives of the case for teaching. It intends to highlight the intersection between prospection of mineral resources (a cultural character from Brazil colonia exploration) and the pedagogic worries to divulgate the geology among Brazilian cultural elites in ends of nineteenth century by means of School of Mines (created in 1876) and polytechnic schools. The strategic point to study is on the John Casper Branner's works (particularly his textbook – first and second editions, 1906 and 1915, and his geological map of Brazil, 1:5.000.000, published in English and Portuguese in 1919) because they show up the views of science, of geology and teaching; we defend that they present a framework of the geological sciences in Brazil. This framework reveals a network of naturalists, their contributions and their findings in terms of stratigraphic geology, mineral prospection, deposits and ores of iron and coal as well as the change of making geology. They put the stratigraphic marks to national geology, Branner synthetizes this making upon teaching perspectives. Branner's works (textbook and geological map) display a conception of science, of geology and the teaching which are fundamentals to organize Brazilian geological sciences. The combination of pedagogical and technical concerns reveals the inflection of mineralogical to geological studies in the ends of nineteenth century and the emergence of the making of geology because of theoretical and practical concerns.
References
Branner, John Casper. A bibliography of the geology, mineralogy and paleontology of Brazil. Archivos do Musseu Nacional, 12(1903): 197-309.
Branner, John Casper. Geologia elementar: preparada com referencia especial aos estudantes brasileiros e à Geologia do Brasil. 1ª. ed. Rio de Janeiro e São Paulo: Laemmert & C.Editores, 1906.
Branner, John Casper. A bibliography of the geology, mineralogy and paleontoloy of Brazil. Bull. of the Geological Society of America 20(1909): 1-132.
Branner, John Casper. Geologia elementar: preparada com referencia especial aos estudantes brasileiros e à Geologia do Brasil. 2ª. ed. Rio de Janeiro: Francisco Alves & C., 1915.
Branner, John Casper. Orville A. Derby. Journal of Geology 24(1916): 209-214.
Branner, John Casper. Resumo da Geologia do Brasil para acompanhar o Mappa Geológico do Brasil. Washington: Press of Judd & Detweiler, 1920.
Brasil. Decreto 2.933, 06 de janeiro de 1915. Regula a propriedade das minas. Legislação informatizada. URL: https://www2.camara.leg.br/legin/fed/decret/1910-1919/decreto-2933-6-janeiro-1915-574337-publicacaooriginal-97500-pl.html
Carvalho, José Murilo de. A escola de Minas de Ouro Preto: o peso da glória. Rio de Janeiro: Centro Edelstein de Pesquisas Sociais, 2010.
Figueirôa, S.F. de M. Brazilian Geology for Brazilian students: the general geology textbook published by John Casper Branner In 1906. Earth Sciences History 35(2016): 375–386.
Gilbert, G.K. The inculcation of scientific method by example. American Journal of Science, 31(1886): 284-299.
Harder, E.C. The “Itabirite” iron ores of Brazil. Economic Geology 9(1914): 101-111.
Harder, E.C., Chamberlin, R.T. The Geology of Central Minas Geraes, Brazil. Part I. The Journal of Geology 23(1915a): 341-378.
Harder, E.C., Chamberlin, R.T. The Geology of Central Minas Geraes, Brazil. The Journal of Geology 23(1915b): 385-424.
Leith, C.K., Harder, E.C. Hematite ores of Brazil and a comparison with hematite ores of Lake Superior. Economic Geology 6(1911): 670-686.
Lisboa, M.A. Permian geology of Northern Brazil. American Journal of Science, 37(1914): 425-443.
Oliveira, A.L. de. O litoral do Nordeste do Brasil como objeto científico darwinista: as prospecções de John Casper Branner, 1899-1911. História, Ciências, Saúde – Manguinhos 21 (2016): 931-949.
Oliveira, A.L. de. Uma geologia do Brasil: a análise do livro didático Geologia Elementar (1906) de John Casper Branner (1850-1922). In Anais eletrônicos do Seminário Nacional de História da Ciência e Tecnologia, Sociedade Brasileira de História da Ciência, 2020.
Penrose Jr., R.A.F. Biographical memoir John Casper Branner 1850-1922. Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, 21(1927): 20p.
Rudwick, M.J.S. The emergence of a visual language for geological science 1760-1840. History of Science 14 (1976): 149-195.
Rudwick, M.J.S. Bursting the limits of time: the reconstruction of Geohistory in the Age of Revolution. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2005.
Townley, S.D. John Casper Branner. The Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 12(1922): 1-11.
Schobbenhaus, C. (Org.). Geologia do Brasil. Brasília: Departamento Nacional da Produção Mineral, 1984.
Schobbenhaus, C., Mantesso-Neto, V. Os mapas murais e a memória geológica: 150 anos no Brasil e na América do Sul. In: Geologia do continente sul-americano: evolução da obra de Fernando Flávio Marques de Almeida. Org. Mantesso-Neto, V. et al., p.435-459. São Paulo: Beca, 2004.
White, I.C. Relatório Final apresentado a S. Ex. O Sr. Dr. Lauro Severiano Müller (Ministro da Indústria, Viação e Obras Públicas) por I.C. White. Rio de Janeiro: Comissão de Estudos da Minas de Carvão de pedra do Brazil, 1908.
