Ce projet explore la valeur épistémologique des collections historiques pour aborder des questions scientifiques actuelles sur les changements environnementaux dans les écosystèmes marins. Le challenge principal est de pouvoir caractériser le processus d'assimilation des connaissances dans un champ scientifique particulier, l'écologie. Les réseaux émergents de collections de données et d'objets permet l'exploration de questions sur comment le contexte historique a pu biaiser les observations qui sont utilisées maintenant pour analyser les tendances écologiques et environnementales du passé. Cette démarche devrait permettre in fine de contribuer à l'amélioration de nos connaissances sur la dynamique des réponses des systèmes écologiques. Plusieurs exemples différents sont traités en détail, couvrant le contexte historique de la recherche dans les stations marines et l'examen récursif des concepts de base en écologie tels que la dynamique des populations, la théorie de l'exclusion compétitive, et l'estimation de l'impact sur l'environnement. / This project explores the epistemic value of heritage collections for addressing modern scientific questions about environmental change in marine ecosystems. The main challenge is to investigate processes of knowledge assimilation within a specific scientific discipline, ecology. Emerging networks of data and object collections permit addressing questions about how historical context may bias observations used for analysis of ecological and environmental trends. The main goal is to synthesize historical concepts and data using meta-analysis and recursive techniques to reconstruct ecological trends. It is hoped that this will ultimately contribute to improving our understanding of the dynamics of ecological systems responses. Several different examples are treated in detail, covering the historical context of research work in marine stations as well as a critical re-examination of basic ecological concepts of population dynamics, competitive exclusion, and the estimation of environmental impact.

La chimie des résines est née en France à Bordeaux au début du XXe siècle. Son émergence est inextricablement liée à la création de l’Institut du Pin. Cet établissement est une entité complexe dont les origines remontent à 1900, moment où Maurice Vèzes, professeur de chimie, établit à Bordeaux le Laboratoire de chimie appliquée à l’industrie des résines afin d’aider l’industrie locale à résoudre une crise sociale et économique. La place des produits résineux sur le marché est menacée à l’époque par l’émergence de l’industrie pétrolière. Sous la direction des grandes figures de la chimie française Georges Dupont et Georges Brus, l’Institut du Pin contribue à la valorisation de la résine de pin. Non seulement il développe de nouveaux débouchés, mais il s’implique dans la normalisation de dérivés résineux en France et à l’international. Les travaux de l’Institut suscitent aussi l’intérêt outre-Atlantique. L’industrie américaine des résines profite amplement de l’expertise française et essaie d’établir ses propres institutions scientifiques à l’image de celles en France. L’Institut du Pin devient le véritable centre mondial de la chimie des résines et remplit ce rôle jusqu’au déclin de l’industrie régionale à la fin des années 1960. / Pine resin chemistry was born in France in the beginning of the 20th century. Its birth is intimately linked to the establishment of the Pine Institute. It was a complex entity whose origins go back to 1900 when Maurice Vèzes, professor of chemistry at the Faculty of Sciences in Bordeaux, created the Laboratory of Chemistry Applied to the Resin Industry in order to help the regional resin industry to fight the social and economic crisis. The market position of resinous products was threatened by the rise of the petroleum industry offering low quality but cheap alternatives. Under the direction of great French chemists, Georges Dupont and Georges Brus, the Pine Institute helped the resin producers to face the threat of petroleum. Not only it elaborated new products but it actively contributed to the development of national and international standards on resin. The Institute’s works aroused interest also in the United States of America. The American resin industry greatly profited from the French expertise and it tried to establish its own scientific institutions following the French example. The Pine Institute became the global centre of resin chemistry and it fulfilled this role until the decline of the regional industry in the end of the 1960s.

Histories of medieval astronomy have brought to light a rich textual tradition, of treatises and tables composed and computed, transmitted and translated across Europe and beyond. These have been supplemented by fruitful inquiry into the material culture of astronomy, especially the instruments that served as models of the heavens, for teaching and for practical purposes. But even now we know little about the practices of medieval astronomers: how they obtained and passed on their knowledge; how they drew up and used mathematical tables; how they drafted the treatises in which they found words to express their ideas and inventions for their particular audiences. This thesis uses a case study approach to elucidate these medieval astronomical practices. Long thought to be a holograph manuscript in the hand of Geoffrey Chaucer, the Equatorie of the Planetis (Peterhouse, Cambridge MS 75.I) has recently been identified as the work of John Westwyk (d. c. 1400), a Benedictine monk of Tynemouth Priory and St Albans Abbey. His draft description of the construction and use of an astronomical instrument, with accompanying tables, provides an opportunity to reconstruct the practices of an unexceptional astronomer. The first chapter of this thesis reconstructs Westwyk’s astronomical reading and understanding, through an examination of the other manuscript that survives in his hand: a pair of instrument treatises by the outstanding monastic astronomer Richard of Wallingford. I show how Westwyk copied this manuscript in a monastic context, learning as he annotated texts and recomputed tables. In the second chapter I discuss the purposes of planetary instruments such as equatoria, their place among other astronomical instruments, and the physical constraints and possibilities experienced by their makers. Through this discussion I assess the craft environment in which Westwyk came to write his own instrument-making instructions. Chapters three and four assess Westwyk’s language, explaining the basis for his choice to write a technical work in the vernacular, and analysing how his innovative use of Middle English furthered his didactic objectives. In the final chapter, I undertake a technical reassessment of the Equatorie treatise, an integrated analysis of the instrument with the somewhat neglected tables that Westwyk compiled alongside it. The thesis thus applies a range of methodologies to examine the practices and products of a single inexpert astronomer from all angles. It aims to show what an in-depth case study approach can offer historians of the medieval sciences.

This dissertation examines representations of deep time in nineteenth-century British novels in order to argue that these texts help carve a path for our contemporary definitions of deep time and the Anthropocene. Examining fiction by Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Thomas Hardy, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, H. Rider Haggard, H. G. Wells, and Joseph Conrad, I suggest that these novels participate in the secularization of deep time by transforming the concept of vast spiritual time that had been in use earlier in the nineteenth century into a scientifically-informed model that anticipates our current understandings of deep time. While the concept of geological time emerged in the late-eighteenth century and became widely recognized in the nineteenth, the phrase “deep time” originates in nineteenth-century literature when Thomas Carlyle first used it in a non-scientific context. By studying a wide range of fiction, I demonstrate how nineteenth-century authors employed innovative narrative strategies to convey these potentially inconceivable timescales in non-numerical terms, and thereby make them more accessible to human comprehension. I also challenge conventional distinctions between literary realism and popular romance in the period by analyzing the complementary ways in which both genres of fiction engage with vast temporal scales in their narratives. I develop my argument by examining how these novels use a model of what I call “folding time” to incorporate remote time periods into their texts. Departing from the novel’s linear narrative structure to bring distant historical moments into direct contact with one another, folding time situates human activity in relation to vast pre-and-post-human periods and in doing so acknowledges an age of humans within deep time; in this sense, these novels articulate an early concept of the Anthropocene. By including deep time in the novel’s traditionally individual and familial framework, these authors simultaneously expand the novel’s temporal scope and humanize vast scientific timescales. Further, as these novels illustrate characters’ psychological responses to overwhelming scientific timescales, they reposition deep time in relation to private temporal experience. This study employs an interdisciplinary approach to acknowledge the mutually reciprocal relationship between science and literature in the nineteenth century, and draws on temporality studies, history of science theory, and literary criticism to situate its argument in relation to current critical discussions. I also consider the work of scientists such as Charles Lyell, Charles Darwin, and William Thomson in order to contextualize my novels’ scientific references. By studying nineteenth-century British novels in relation to scientific temporalities, this dissertation recovers an overlooked component of the history of deep time that has had significant and lasting cultural influence given the enduring popularity and wide readership of these texts.

This diploma thesis brings an integral view at cognitive processes connected with artificial intelligence systems, and makes a comparison with the processes observed in nature, including human being. A historical background helps us to look at the whole issue from a certain point of view. The main axis of interest comes after the historical overview and includes the following: environment -- stimulations -- processing -- reflection in the cognitive system -- reaction to stimulation; I balance the approach and the limited potential of the human being against the machine (or artificial intelligence). In the last part, there are introduced two projects that have been already implemented in the inteligent transport systems, and their potential for the further expansion and development is shown here. The main emphasis is placed on the coherence between each part of this thesis and cognitive processes, and on the relation and the mutual dependence of these processes.

This dissertation examines the role of Singer in the modernization of sewing practices in Spain and Mexico from 1860 to 1940. Singer marketing was founded on gendered views of women’s work and gendered perceptions of the home. These connected with sewing practices in Spain and Mexico, where home sewing remained economically and culturally important throughout the 1940s. "Atlantic Threads" is the first study of the US-owned multinational in the Hispanic World. I demonstrate that sewing practices, and especially practices related to home sewing that have been considered part of the private sphere and therefore not an important historical matter, contributed to the building of one the first global corporation. I examine Singer corporate records and business strategies that have not been considered by other scholars such as the creation of the Embroidery Department in the late nineteen-century. Likewise, this dissertation challenges traditional narratives that have assumed that Spain and Mexico were peripheral to modernity. I look at Singer corporate records in Spain and Mexico and at regional government and cultural sources to demonstrate how Singer integrated Spain and Mexico within its business organization. Singer's marketing was focused on the consumer, which contributed to make the company part of local sewing businesses and cultures.

Orientador: Prof. Dr. Breno Arsioli Moura / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do ABC, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ensino, História, Filosofia das Ciências e Matemática, Santo André, 2018. / O presente trabalho tem como objetivo explorar a contribuição do uso da História da Ciência como recurso pedagógico para a discussão de aspectos da Natureza da Ciência (NdC), por meio de dois episódios da História da Química: a teoria vital (vitalismo) e a síntese da ureia. O pensamento vitalístico pode ser encontrado desde o tempo dos gregos e postula que a vida não é meramente resultado de forças físicas e químicas, mas que estas são guiadas por meio de uma força vital intrínseca à própria vida. Algumas narrativas sugerem que, durante o século XIX, um grande debate surgiu quando Friedrich Wöhler (1800-1882) sintetizou a ureia, até então considerada uma substância orgânica, que só poderia ser produzida a partir de organismos vivos. Essa descoberta, feita no ano de 1828, tornou-se mais uma anedota que propaga a ideia de descobertas geniais da ciência, em que apenas uma pessoa foi responsável por todo o desenvolvimento de determinado conhecimento. Isso vem sendo perpetuado nas salas de aula que geralmente reproduzem uma versão simplificada e inadequada da História da Ciência. Problematizamos esses episódios no Ensino Médio por meio de uma adaptação da Abordagem Multicontextual da História da Ciência (AMHIC). A AMHIC foi originalmente desenvolvida para um contexto de formação de professores. Ao adaptar sua estrutura principal, foi possível inserir conteúdos históricos de forma contextualizada também no Ensino Médio. A proposta de ensino foi aplicada em uma turma de terceiro ano de uma escola pública no município de São Caetano do Sul. As atividades propiciaram discussões sobre o desenvolvimento da Química Orgânica, do conceito de isomeria e de aspectos da Natureza da Ciência (NdC). Após a intervenção, a análise dos dados nos permitiu concluir que os alunos atuaram ativamente no processo de ensino aprendizagem, se apropriaram dos conceitos de NdC de forma a se expressar por meio de uma visão menos ingênua da Ciência, além de terem aprimorado habilidades em relação à leitura e à escrita. / The purpose of this research is to explore the role of the History of Science as a pedagogic resource for the discussion of NOS, from the study of two episodes of History of Chemistry: the vital theory (vitalism) and the urea synthesis. Vitalistic thinking can be found since the time of the Greeks and claims that life is not merely the result of physical and chemical forces, but that they are ruled by a vital force intrinsic to life itself. Some narratives propose that during the nineteenth-century, an intense debate arose when Friedrich Wöhler (1800-1882) synthesized urea, until then a substance considered to be organic and that could only be produced from living organisms. This discovery, made in 1828, became another anecdote that propagates the idea of miraculous discoveries of science, in which only one person was responsible for the whole development of certain knowledge. This idea has been perpetuated in classrooms and textbooks, which generally reproduce a simplified and inadequate version of the History of Science. We problematized these episodes in classroom situations by adapting the Multicontextual Approach of History of Science (MCAHS). MCAHS was originally developed to be used in teacher education. By adapting its main structure, we used the idea of contextual teaching to introduce historical content also in high school classes. The teaching proposal was applied in a third grade of High School a public school in the city of São Caetano do Sul. The activities provided discussions on the development of Organic Chemistry, the concept of isomerism and aspects of the Nature of Science (NOS). After the intervention, the analysis of the data allowed us to conclude that the students had an active role in the learning process, appropriated the concepts of NOS in order to express themselves through a less naive view of Science, in addition to having improved skills in reading and writing.

Orientadora: Profa. Dra. Márcia Helena Alvim / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do ABC, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ensino, História, Filosofia das Ciências e Matemática, Santo André, 2018. / A presente pesquisa discute a inserção da História das Ciências (HC) no ensino de Física, como forma de promover um ambiente crítico e reflexivo, distante do ensino tradicional perpetuado na maioria das escolas, onde a ciência, de forma geral, é vista como a-histórica, composta por gênios e promotora do saber único e verdadeiro. Tendo em vista este panorama, apresentam-se algumas reflexões a respeito do distanciamento deste tipo de ensino, por meio de associações com a concepção bancária da educação, discutida por Paulo Freire. O objetivo principal dessa pesquisa é investigar a temática da Revolução Científica em aulas de Física do Ensino Médio, buscando elaborar, aplicar e analisar uma proposta didático-metodológica que inclua essa discussão na promoção da reflexão sobre a importância da HC no ensino. Esta pesquisa é caracterizada como pesquisa-ação e busca a interface da HC com o ensino de Física, a fim de contribuir para a formação de cidadãos críticos. A proposta didático-metodológica foi aplicada no 1º ano do Ensino Médio de uma escola da rede privada de ensino, localizada em São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo, onde através da reflexão histórica acerca da Revolução Científica, com o uso de diferentes recursos pedagógicos, buscou-se promover situações de aprendizado nas quais se privilegiaram os momentos de discussão e produção escrita dos alunos sobre a temática. Por fim, os resultados obtidos da aplicação da proposta possibilitou identificar que a HC no ensino contribuiu para a promoção de ambientes de reflexão sobre o desenvolvimento da ciência e, por consequência, mostrou-se um recurso promissor para o aprendizado científico dos alunos. Outra significativa contribuição refere-se a alguns elementos didáticos que levam ao aprimoramento das aulas e evidenciam a postura dos alunos diante das experiências compartilhadas em sala de aula. / Traditional teaching promoted in most school¿s view science as an-historical, made up of geniuses and promoter of the unique and true knowledge. This research discusses how the insertion of History of Sciences (HC) in the teaching of Physics, promotes a critical and reflexive Education. This will be presented with some reflections on the importance of distancing traditional education, through the association with the banking concept of education discussed by Paulo Freire. The main objective of this research is to investigate the Scientific Revolution in High School Physics classes, seeking to elaborate, apply and analyze a didactic-methodology proposal that includes the promotion of reflections on the importance of HC in science teaching. The research is an action-research which interfaces the HC with the teaching of Physics, to contribute to the development of critical citizens. The didactic-methodological proposed was applied in the 1st year students of a private high school in São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo. The historical reflection by the Scientific Revolution, with the use of different pedagogical resources, seek to developed learning situations by encouraging discussion and written production of students. The results highlighted that HC teaching contributed to the promotion of an environment for reflection and the development of science teaching. Consequently, proving to be a promising resource for student¿s scientific learning. Another important contribution refers to some didactic elements that lead to the improvement of classes, this situation was evidenced by the shared experiences in the classroom.

Orientador: Silvia Fernanda de Mendonça Figueirôa / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Educação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-27T07:23:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Gandolfi_HairaEmanuela_M.pdf: 2906092 bytes, checksum: 291cbe98bc5eb359c2e1637177e18534 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015 / Resumo: Em virtude do desafio atual de tornar o Ensino de Ciências interessante, abrangente e formador de cidadãos críticos, a presente investigação busca realizar uma reflexão a respeito da inserção da História e da Filosofia da Ciência (HFC) em atividades de Ensino de Química. Pretende-se discutir, a partir do ponto de vista do ensino da Natureza da Ciência (NOS), as potencialidades do estudo da História e da Filosofia da Ciência para o Ensino de Química, essencialmente relevantes para a elucidação de como se dá a gênese e o desenvolvimento dos conhecimentos e das práticas químicas. Com o objetivo de divulgar as possibilidades do trabalho, em sala de aula, com aspectos da Natureza da Química, essa investigação explorou, a partir de uma Pesquisa Histórica, e analisou, dentro do referencial do Ensino de Ciências e da HFC, diferentes fontes históricas primárias, produzidas no contexto da exploração mineral no período colonial brasileiro. Buscou-se apresentar e estimular a leitura, interpretação e análise de textos histórico-científicos, sob a luz da HFC e da NOS, visando um maior contato de professores e estudantes com aspectos e características do mundo científico e das práticas e conhecimentos químicos em um contexto brasileiro, através do estudo de uma das mais importantes atividades de exploração natural desenvolvida ao longo da História do Brasil / Abstract: Due to the present challenge to transform Science Education into an interesting, comprehensive and capable of forming critical citizens process, this research aims to reflect about the insertion of History and Philosophy of Science (HPS) into Chemistry Teaching activities. The intention here is to discuss, from the teaching of the Nature of Science (NOS) perspective, the potential of History and Philosophy of Science for Chemistry Teaching, as these topics are essentially relevant to the elucidation of the genesis and the development of knowledge and practices related to Chemistry. In order to disseminate the possibilities of classroom practices related to the Nature of Chemistry, this research explored, by undertaking a Historical Research, and analyzed, within the framework of Science Teaching and HPS, several primary historical sources, produced in the context of mineral exploitation during the Brazilian colonial period. The objective here was to introduce and encourage reading, interpretation and analysis of historical-scientific texts, under the light of the HPS and the NOS, looking forward to approximate teachers and students to aspects and features of the scientific world and of chemical practices and knowledge in a Brazilian context, through the study of one of the most important natural exploitation activities developed throughout the Brazilian History / Mestrado / Ensino de Ciencias e Matematica / Mestra em Ensino de Ciências e Matemática

This thesis investigates a part of the material culture of higher education through an object biographical case study of Félix Thibert’s moulages. The object biography operates with a diachronic perspective that offers an object-centered historiography of university collections, revealing that the need for collecting and imaging in science consistently remains, even though the role and significance of pathological moulages in research and education have changed over time. The moulages are epistemic things as described by Hans-Jörg Rheinberger. They embody what we do not yet know and they become marginalized when no one expects them to generate new discoveries. Their ontology and function are dependent on the dominating epistemic culture. John V. Pickstone outlines three ways of knowing, which gradually have dominated since the Renaissance: natural history, analysis and experiment. Thibert’s moulages are clearly anchored in analysis as a way of knowing for which the museum is an important arena. The findings of this thesis show that university museums and their collections were of immense importance for the production of knowledge during the 19th century, while today they often fall short of their knowledge-generating potential. There are nevertheless methods that can help them reach their full potential, among them a displaying method proposed by Karin Tybjerg considered in this thesis and the object biography of which this thesis consists. This is a two-year master’s thesis in Museum and Cultural Heritage Studies.