On the History of Science in Portugal (1930-1940). The Sphere of Action of a Scientific Community

The History of Science in Portugal (1930-1940) explains the study and the fixation of the social construction of a scientific memory, recalling Maurice Halbawachs. Practices of cultural representation, civic manifestation and festive rituals were also present in the celebration of the memories of the history of scientific activity in Portugal, the scientific community and scientific institutions, from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century. We pointed out three steps; first the memory of the history of science in Portugal through the images manufactured by foreigners, especially by the Italian scientific review Archeion; second the domestic manufacture of a national memory of scientific culture and the role-played by the Portuguese Group of History of Science; third moment, the Commemorations of 1940 and the 8th Congress of the History of Portuguese Scientific Activity coordinated by Joaquim de Carvalho the famous professor of Philosophy from Coimbra’s University. The Portuguese scientific community entered the workshop of the History of Science just as it found it in the period (1930-1940), revealing a ‘brave new world’ for the field of the cultural and social construction of the scientific memory and showing us today how scientists in Portugal as professionals and intellectuals play identity games