Cândido Baptista de Oliveira and the “Forgotten Memoir”

The First Plan of a National Astronomical Observatory After Brazilian Independence (1822-1831)

Bibliographic Data

ID12865735
AuthorsMillena Souza Farias (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume17
Issue1
Pages39-54
Publication date2023-06-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHoST - Journal of History of Science and Technology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1646-7752 • E-ISSN: 1646-7752
PublisherDe Gruyter (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.2478/host-2023-0004
OpenAlexW4380685296
LanguagePT
Citations received1
References cited1

On February 1, 1828, the newspaper Diario Fluminense published in full the Plan for the establishment of an astronomical observatory in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The document was written by the Brazilian mathematician Cândido Baptista de Oliveira and substantiated the approval of the law determining the creation of the future Imperial Astronomical Observatory of Rio de Janeiro (IORJ). This paper discusses the influences embedded within Oliveira’s project, by analyzing the appropriation of different scientific traditions gained during his training as a mathematician at the Observatory of the University of Coimbra and during his studies at French scientific institutions, such as the Polytechnic School and Paris Observatory. I argue that this project had a nationalistic ideal, imbued with the notions of progress and modernity, both effects of the ongoing circulation of people and scientific knowledge during the beginning of the nineteenth century

Appropriation · Archaeology · Art history · Astronomy · Independence (probability theory · Memoir · Modernity · Observatory · Plan (archaeology · Political science · Sociology · History · History and Developments in Astronomy · History of Science and Medicine · History of Science and Natural History · Law · Philosophy

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Open DOIOpen Access