Chemistry, Society and Uncertainty

In recent years, besides the increased interest in philosophy of chemistry, we have witnessed a "material turn" in philosophy and the history of sciences with an interest in putting instruments, objects, materials and practices at the core of historical reports. Since its alchemic past, chemistry has worked with and on materials, so that its history is also a "material history". Thus, in the wake of this "material turn", it is up to philosophy and the history of chemistry to perceive the chemical substances, the chemists that create them and the industries that produce them as part of culture, society and politics. This overlap between chemical reasoning and materiality as well as the artificial character of its products makes chemistry an eminently technoscientific science. In this context, we will analyze the most general aspect that led us to identify it as "technoscientific", the hybrid that exists between chemistry and society. With that, we intend to argue in favor of considering the modern societal necessities (material, environmental, and human) with chemistry, in an effort to build a more harmonious relationship, being that it will be long and, maybe, indissoluble. Following that, our aim is to develop a concept that cannot be separated from the capillarity of chemistry in societies and the environment, the imprevisibility and essential uncertainty of the behavior of chemical entities in multiple contexts. Finally, we will highlight some reflections concerning chemical ethics associated with the production and creation of new substances that may become a part of the lifeworld.

Biografías científicas en la enseñanza de ciencias: límites y potencialidades

Previously considered anecdotal and hagiographic, scientific biographies regained their importance in historiography in the last decades of the 20th century, presenting new objects and approaches for research in the History of Sciences. New approaches to biographical genre in science allow us to rethink the role of narratives focused on the lives of scientists for science education, opening new ways of thinking about the historical approach to scientific content and the insertion of topics related to the production of science in our society. In this text, we will discuss the potential and limitations in the use of Scientific Biographies for science education.

Der ṭarab der Sängersklavinnen

In "Der ṭarab der Sängersklavinnen", Yasemin Gökpınar presents a text critical edition of the three known manuscripts of the 10th chapter of Ibn Faḍlallāh al-ʿUmarī’s (died 749/1349) "Masālik al-abṣār fī mamālik al-amṣār". In this monograph, she provides an unprecedented commented German translation of this important source on female singer slaves and their song repertoire in the context of Muslim court culture from the Abbasids to the Mamluks. The scientific interests of Dr. phil. Yasemin Gökpinar, Ruhr-University Bochum, and Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, include Arabic music theory and history of sciences, their Greek sources, Arabic manuscript culture, text edition, Arabic-Islamic music culture and literature.

Mobility of scholars and sciences between Bohemia, Hungary, Poland, and France in the 14th–15th centuries: the contribution of prosopography to the history of sciences

This article aims to trace the mobility of scholars and sciences between France and Bohemia, Hungary, and Poland in the 14th and 15th centuries, seen from the perspective of prosopography. These exchanges were concentrated in only three oldest French universities of Montpellier, Orléans and Paris, albeit with significant variations, and in the newly-founded universities north of the Alps in the 14th century, namely those in Prague and Kraków. Mobility was less important and intensive at the end of the Middle Ages because of the policy in favour of establishing national universities. The names of 143 scholars from Bohemia, Hungary, and Poland, who were enrolled in the 14th and 15th centuries in French universities, have been found so far. Several of them played important roles in the history of science in these countries.

The History of Science in Latin America in its own terms

This article conducts a comparative analysis of two journals: Quipu, created in 1984 by the Latin American Society for the History of Sciences and Technology in Mexico, published until 1994 and shortly relived between 1999 and 2000, and the Brazilian History of Science Journal, published since 1985 by the Brazilian Society for the History of Science and Technology. Both journals initiated in a period of major historiographical change. They gave shape to a set of historical arguments about the qualities and specificities of Latin American techniques and technologies and both contributed to the structuring of an epistemic community in the field.

Considerations about the Origins of French Style in History of Sciences

This paper aims to reconstruct some steps of the emergence and consolidation of the so-called French style in the history of sciences, from the perspective of Georges Canguilhem, one of its main exponents. It begins with a brief characterization of this style, then seeks the moments in Canguilhem’s work in which he defines the more significant contributions of certain authors to the development of this style. First, Fontenelle’s critique of Cartesian thought; after Comte and Claude Bernard, passing by Montpellier School and Paris School of Medicine, until finally reaching the decisive contribution of Bachelard.

Reception of Pascal in the history of sciences...

In particular computer science and technologies.With references to the history of philosophyand the social sciences.

Indigenization of Behavior Analysis in Brazil

Recently, theoretical and methodological contributions to the history of sciences have promoted worldwide interest in the circulation and appropriation of scientific knowledge and objects. Throughout the history of psychology, similar contributions have attempted to clarify the polycentric history of the field. Of special note in the history of behavior analysis, there has been growing interest in its past development in several countries. In this context, historians dedicated to psychology in South America are particularly interested in the paths followed by behaviorisms in the region. Aspects of the indigenization of behavior analysis in Brazil are analyzed between 1960 and 1980, a country in which this theory had a substantial impact in the field of psychology. The authors argue that behavior analysis was indigenized as a “technology” derived from psychology rather than from a theoretical and methodological perspective during that period. By presenting this thesis, the authors posit that protagonists of indigenization were more attached to the experimental discourse of psychology and the creation of a “scientific” psychology capable of attending to specific social demands (e.g., education) rather than the development of the theory itself. Through this work, an active appropriation is demonstrated of behavior analysis by Brazilians who were committed to behavior modification as a technology for solving social demands.

The Valorization Program of the Cultural Heritage of Sebastião e Silva Secondary School, Oeiras

Like so many secondary schools, in Portugal and elsewhere, the Sebastião e Silva Secondary School in Oeiras has important scientific collections. These mainly encompass the Natural Sciences, Physics and Chemistry fields, and their significance is associated both with the memory and identity of the School, and with local pedagogic practices, contributing therefore to the history of sciences and education in Portugal. Moreover, they reflect the value given to these subjects by their host institution, for example, by the selection of materials which integrate the collection. The main purpose of the present essay is to explain the origins and context of the collection and its institutionalization as a museological nucleus of the School. The collection relevance and its immeasurable heritage value is a maker of a collective identity and memory of the School and the educational community. In the present paper implemented strategies of pedagogical interaction are discussed and, ultimately, problems and future perspectives are highlighted. A reflection is made about the relevance of this heritage in an era of digital technologies, as well as the main challenges in its preservation, study, interpretation and dissemination.