Research Projects

In the first half of the 19th century, in Rio de Janeiro, dozens of periodicals that proposed to popularise scientific knowledge and its techniques were published with a common objective: a civilising project for the new-born nation. 

Objectives

Among these periodicals, in 1833, a periodical derived from this tradition stood out for its longevity and specificity in the search to improve the country’s production methods, O Auxiliador da Industria Nacional (The Helper of National Industry). The periodical was created by the Sociedade Auxiliadora da Indústria Nacional (Society for the Promotion of the National Industry), having circulated for sixty years and extinct only in 1896. This research seeks to understand the history and functioning of the periodical and which transformations it underwent, editorial and institutional. Through the analysis of institutional documents, the compilation and classification of the periodical's content, the examination of the relevant official bibliography, and the historiography of science journalism and communication, this project proposes to analyse the history of the periodical over its six decades of publication, the thematic evolution of its content, and the participation of the Brazilian government on its funding and distribution.

Publications

SILVA, C. A. F.; PENTEADO, D. F. de M. O perfil dos redatores do periódico O Auxiliador da Indústria Nacional (1833-1896). Revista Diálogos Mediterrânicos 12 (2017): 132-153. https://dialogosmediterranicos.com.br/RevistaDM/article/view/260 

PENTEADO, D. F. de M. O Auxiliador da Indústria Nacional: Um periódico a serviço do estado brasileiro? (1833-1896). Revista Trilhas da História 8.15 (2018): 126-43. https://periodicos.ufms.br/index.php/RevTH/article/view/5635 

Ideas, knowledge, people, and animals were in rapid transit in the nineteenth century, occasionally at the same time. 

Objectives

This research analyses the unsuccessful government-sponsored experiment to introduce and naturalize dromedaries (Camelus dromedarius) in the northeastern Brazilian province of Ceará between 1857 and 1867. While the scheme is not unknown, it has not yet received a dedicated and thorough examination. Using the lenses of the global exchange of knowledge, transnational scientific enterprises, the history of camelids, and the worldwide phenomenon of acclimatization, I argued that the naturalization plan was tailored following the principles of animal acclimatization while aimed at wider efforts by the Brazilian government to modernize national agriculture.

Publications

PENTEADO, D. F. M. Brazilian Dromedaries: A History of Acclimatization, Agricultural Modernization, and Camelids, 1857–1867. Isis 115(2) (2024): 241-66. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/730460 

The long 19th century was a period of many developments and technical innovations in agriculture and animal biology, during which actors sought to incorporate new practices in light of new information. But not all developments were equal. 

Objectives

By the middle of the century, however, while heredity steadily became the dominant concept in animal husbandry, some policies related to livestock improvement in Brazil seemed to have been tailored following a climate-deterministic concept established in the mid-18th century by the French naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc, the Comte de Buffon. His theory of animal degeneration posited, among other things, the necessity of recurrent crossbreeding to preserve animal species living in nonnative environments from climate-induced degeneration. Although largely discredited by the early 19th century, the teachings of the French naturalist seem to have found supporters in a Brazilian program to modernize national agriculture through the application of the natural sciences. I argued that Buffon’s theory of degeneration was used to tailor public policies and funding for the improvement of domesticated animals in Brazil between 1856 and 1860. 

Publications

PENTEADO, D. F. M. A Tale of Enduring Myths: Buffon’s Theory of Animal Degeneration and the Regeneration of Domesticated Animals in Mid-19th Century Brazil. Journal of the History of Biology 56 (2023): 715-742. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10739-023-09742-8 

Learned societies played key role in nineteenth century science communication and policy making, but the most prominent society of this kind in Brazil was understudied for a long time.

Objectives

Officially founded in 1825, the Sociedade Auxiliadora da Indústria Nacional (Society for the Improvement of the National Industry) was a pivotal institution in Brazilian imperial history. Despite its private legal nature, the learned society often performed tasks assigned by the imperial government, received public funds, and served as an official advisory body for scientific and technical subjects related to agriculture and industry. Overall, the research aims to explore the association's many enterprises and its relation with the Brazilian government. 

Publications

PENTEADO, D. F. M. Os projetos educacionais da Sociedade Auxiliadora da Indústria Nacional: as trajetórias da Escola Noturna de Instrução Primária de Adultos e a Escola Industrial (1871–1902). Almanack 33 (2023): 1-44. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1590/2236-463333ea00322 

PENTEADO, D. F. M. Sociedade Auxiliadora da Indústria Nacional: a ambiguidade de uma associação civil a serviço do Estado brasileiro. Revista Brasileira de História da Ciência 15.1 (2022): 61-86. DOI: https://doi.org/10.53727/rbhc.v15i1.728