Brazilian Scientists Research Articles

Enlightened Mineralogists: Mining Knowledge in Colonial Brazil, 1750-1825

This case study of the intellectual and professional trajectories of two Brazilian colonial scientists illustrates the constitution of a local scientific context, its characteristics, and its limits. In Brazil, colonial scientists saw themselves as inextricably linked to the Portuguese metropolis; their science was not seen as an instrument of colonial resistance, but rather as an improving factor, mobilizing natural resources for the achievement of economic and intellectual goals set by both imperial and colonial interests. The development of science in Brazil was not so much a process of transmission as a part of the same process that occurred contemporaneously in Portugal.

O Projeto Unesco e a agenda das ciências sociais no Brasil dos anos 40 e 50

O artigo tem por objetivo descrever o processo de estruturação do ciclo de estudos sobre as relações raciais no Brasil patrocinado pela Unesco no início dos anos 50. Ao realçar a atuação de determinados atores sociais e suas respectivas visões a respeito do empreendimento a ser realizado no país, foi possível verificar os elos de ligação entre as demandas da agência internacional e o leque de questões formuladas pelas ciências sociais brasileiras. Esta agenda, sintetizada por Arthur Ramos no final dos anos 40, colocava para a inteligência do país inserida no mundo universitário o desafio de associar a qualificação profissional nos campos da Antropologia e da Sociologia e o incremento de pesquisas que pudessem decifrar o que o antropólogo considerava ser a singularidade brasileira, o "laboratório de civilização". Para Arthur Ramos, o tema das relações raciais assumia um lugar privilegiado para a percepção e análise dos desafios da transição do tradicional para o moderno, do cenário de significativas desigualdades sociais e raciais, da diversidade regional e da busca em conformar, em definitivo, uma identidade nacional.

Brazil's scientists fear ministry merger

SAO PAULO Brazil's Ministry of Science and Technology could be merged with the larger Ministry of Education when the second term of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso begins next year.

Smoke, Clouds, and Radiation‐Brazil (SCAR‐B) experiment

The Smoke, Clouds, and Radiation‐Brazil (SCAR‐B) field project took place in the Brazilian Amazon and cerrado regions in August–September 1995 as a collaboration between Brazilian and American scientists. SCAR‐B, a comprehensive experiment to study biomass burning, emphasized measurements of surface biomass, fires, smoke aerosol and trace gases, clouds, and radiation, their climatic effects, and remote sensing from aircraft and satellites. It included aircraft and ground‐based in situ measurements of smoke emission factors and the compositions, sizes, and optical properties of the smoke particles; studies of the formation of ozone; the transport and evolution of smoke; and smoke interactions with water vapor and clouds. This overview paper introduces SCAR‐B and summarizes some of the main results obtained so far. (1) Fires: measurements of the size distribution of fires, using the 50 m resolution MODIS Airborne Simulator, show that most of the fires are small (e.g., 0.005 km2), but the satellite sensors (e.g., AVHRR and MODIS with 1 km resolution) can detect fires in Brazil which are responsible for 60–85% of the burned biomass; (2) Aerosol: smoke particles emitted from fires increase their radius by as much as 60% during their first three days in the atmosphere due to condensation and coagulation, reaching a mass median radius of 0.13–0.17 μm; (3) Radiative forcing: estimates of the globally averaged direct radiative forcing due to smoke worldwide, based on the properties of smoke measured in SCAR‐B (−0.1 to −0.3 W m−2), are smaller than previously modeled due to a lower single‐scattering albedo (0.8 to 0.9), smaller scattering efficiency (3 m2g−1at 550 nm), and low humidification factor; and (4) Effect on clouds: a good relationship was found between cloud condensation nuclei and smoke volume concentrations, thus an increase in the smoke emission is expected to affect cloud properties. In SCAR‐B, new techniques were developed for deriving the absorption and refractive index of smoke from ground‐based remote sensing. Future spaceborne radiometers (e.g., MODIS on the Earth Observing System), simulated on aircraft, proved to be very useful for monitoring smoke properties, surface properties, and the impacts of smoke on radiation and climate.

From Physics to Development Strategies

The evolution of my career from purely academic research in experimental nuclear physics to science, followed by involvement in public affairs and administration, is described. Highlights in this trajectory are my involvement with the efforts to improve support for science activities and the protection of human rights of scientists in Brazil during the period of military government (1964–1984). The future role of nuclear energy in Brazil marked my transition toward a growing interest in energy alternatives and renewables. Finally, my activities first as the Rector of the University of São Paulo and then as a cabinet member in the federal government are described, as are the role I played in defusing the nuclear race between Argentina and Brazil and my participation in the Climate Conference in Rio in 1992.

Havia alguma ciência no Brasil setecentista?

In the past decade several articles have been published in this journal and elsewhere by different authors, dealing with the institutionalization of science in Brazil, its origins and subsequent history. The emphasis has often been directed to the work of Brazilian scientists working abroad, to foreigners in Brazil, or to a few private individuals within the country, as well as to cultural, social, economic and political considerations. Much of the attention has also been focused on academic science, rather than on empirical or technical developments. The present article presents some of these situations, particularly in the mining district, where the application of technology, sometimes quite up-to-date for the time, tended to blur somewhat the distinction between science and its applications. It is hoped that this may start a debate which will enrich our historiography in this field and be of interest to those who want to assess Brazil's position in the history of science.

Report of the 2nd Brazilian Symposium on Basic Research in HIV/AIDS. Angra dos Reis, RJ, Brazil. September 7-11, 1997.

Very little basic research on HIV-1 was conducted during the first decade of the AIDS epidemic in Brazil a period during which Brazilian scientists and government policy worked to address the immediate health problems created by the epidemic. The First Brazilian Symposium on Basic Research in HIV/AIDS was held in Angra dos Reis Rio de Janeiro during September 13-16 1995 to disseminate scientific information and enhance national and international collaboration in the interest of strengthening national research capabilities. Presentations were made on anti-HIV/AIDS vaccines gene therapy mucosal immunity immunopathology HIV neutralization cytotoxic T lymphocytes HIV-1 polymorphism disease progression markers and diagnosis and co-infections. Small biennial meetings will be held in the future.

Personality Traits of Brazilian Creative Scientists

The study’ investigated the personality traits of 29 Brazilian scientists distinguished by their creative production. The criteria used for the sample selection were outstanding achievement and credtive contributions to the field These scientists were interviewed and asked to describe their personality characteristics in response to several questions about themselves and their work. The interviews were tape recorded and later transcribed verbatim. The scientists were also requested to complete a personality checklist. The study found that the scientists ‘most distinguishing characteristics were persistence and dedication to their activities. Other characteristics of this sample were enthusiasm, initiative, independence of thought and action, responsibility, and imagination. The personality characteristics of these scientists were similar to those observed in previous studies of creative scientists in other cultures. These characteristics were influenced by early socialisation in the home and in school and have implications for educators’ nurturing of talent.

The relationship between advisors and students

Considering the influence of graduation courses on the scientific productivity in Brazil, fifty productive Brazilian scientists working in life sciences were interviewed about their relationship with their advisors and their own experience with their students. Admired by freedom and intellectual qualities, by their love and dedication for science, advisors seem to have had a deep influence on their students. This bond is not free from either an idealized frame or from some complaints and conflicts. Interviewed scientists see in themselves lesser qualities and faults but the same respect for freedom. Some students are thought to be specially important to the interviewed's productivity. Eldest and most productive scientists seem to be intellectually more impressed by their advisors than the other groups. The emotional and sometimes strong and idealized bond between advisor and students lead us to believe that the stated frequencies of conflicts might be underestimated.

The importance of human relationships in scientific productivity

Fifty Brazilian scientists working in life sciences were interviewed in order to explore reasons of bursts and falls in their scientific productivity. Scientists recognize specific periods of time of their career during which they are more productive. Bursts of productivity are influenced mainly by human relationships and, to a lower extent, by material conditions (equipment, grants, etc), time dedicated to work and reasons linked to the kind of work carried out. The most productive scientists tend to attribute more importance to human relations than their colleagues with lower productivity scores. Some possible reasons for this discrepancy are discussed.

Report of the First Brazilian Symposium on Basic Research in HIV/AIDS.

HIV-1 from a seropositive Brazilian individual wasachieved in May 1987. During this time, a lot ofeffort was oriented towards solving emergent pub-lic health needs such as the development of easy,quick and cheap screening and confirmatory as-says for the serological diagnosis. The importanceof several institutions in financing reasearchprojects, e.g. Fundacao Banco do Brasil, NationalResearch Council (CNPq) and Petrobras waspointed out.Representing the Ministry of Health, DrEuclides A Castilho highlighted the trends of theHIV/AIDS epidemic in Brazil. He stated that inthe beginning of the epidemic, the epidemiologicprofile was similar to that observed in the USAand Western Europe. The homosexual/bisexualmode of transmission was the most important routein the propagation of infection in Brazil. Later, theepidemic profile began to change and currently theintravenous drug use and the heterosexual modeof transmission have assumed greater significance.He also summarized the present prevalence ofHIV/AIDS in Brazil: as of February of 1995, a to-tal of 71,111 AIDS cases were officially reportedto the Ministry of Health. The infection is dissemi-nated all over the country and the estimated preva-lence of infection in terms of incidence per 100,000inhabitants is 11.2 in the Northern, 13.0 in theNortheastern, 32.3 in the Middle-Western, 91.0 inthe Southeastern and 26.5 in the Southern regionsof Brazil. With respect to sexual preferences, since1980 a total of 45% of the cases of HIV/AIDSoccurred in homosexual/bisexual men and 17.7%in heterosexuals. The parenteral mode of transmis-sion accounts for 25.2% of cases due to blood orblood factors and 21% due to intravenous drug use.Dr Eduardo Martins, Vice-President of theFIOCRUZ, drew attention to the fact that theOswaldo Cruz Foundation, as the main research in-stitution of the Ministry of Health, recognizes theurgent need to establish ways to face the HIV-1 epi-demic in Brazil as well as other emergent or re-emergent infections. Therefore, the InstitutionalDuring the first decade of AIDS epidemic inBrazil very little basic research on HIV-1 was per-formed in this country. In fact, the efforts of Bra-zilian scientists and the government policy wereaimed to solve the immediate health problems cre-ated by the emergent HIV-1/AIDS epidemic. TheFirst Brazilian Symposium on Basic Research inHIV/AIDS was held in Angra dos Reis, Rio deJaneiro, from 13 to 16 of September 1995, in or-der to disseminate scientific information and en-hance national and international collaboration witha view of strengthening national research capabili-ties.Opportunity was taken to posthumously honorDr Marguerite (Peggy) Pereira and Dr Helio GelliPereira, two of the world’s most distinguished vi-rologists, whose life-work was presented by DrHerman Schatzmayr (FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro).These scientists contributed a great deal to solvesome severe and important public health problemsin Brazil. Thanks to their contributions it has beenpossible to achieve significant success in control-ling the HIV/AIDS epidemic spread in blood do-nation centers in Brazil.Dr Bernardo Galvao-Castro (FIOCRUZ, Sal-vador) summarized the main historical aspects ofthe AIDS epidemic in Brazil. He recalled that thefirst AIDS cases reported in Brazil date back from1982, when six cases were reported in Sao Pauloand Rio de Janeiro. At that time, there was no offi-cial program to face this emergent epidemic. Infact, this program was established in 1985. Recog-nizing the severity of this new public health prob-lem, some groups of Brazilian researchers, mainlyin Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, iniciated someactivities in clinic, immunology and epidemiol-ogy of HIV/AIDS.In July 1985 Drs Peggy and Helio Pereirakindly donated H9/HIV-1 infected cells to theOswaldo Cruz Foundation. This enabled FIOCRUZto promptly set up the HIV-1 screening routine inthe public Brazilian blood bank network, using theimmunofluorescence assay. The first isolation of

Espetáculo da miscigenação

Um grande laboratório racial: era essa a imagem do Brasil no final do século XIX. Construída pelos inúmeros viajantes que aqui estiveram, essa alusão a um país de raças híbridas encontrava também acolhida entre os cientistas nacionais, que se congregavam nos diversos centros de ensino e pesquisa: os institutos históricos e geográficos, os museus etnográficos, as faculdades de direito e de medicina. Adotando modelos do determinismo racial coube a esses intelectuais, porém, o estranho papel de difundir um extremo pessimismo no que tange ao futuro dessa nação mestiça. O desafio desse artigo, portanto, é compreender a originalidade do pensamento local, como também a convivência inesperada entre dois modelos supostamente antagônicos: liberalismo e racismo.

Brazil fights to save biodiversity

Brazilian scientists are worried about the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and the smuggling out of plants by foreign researchers. At the “earth summit” in Rio de Janeiro last year Brazil's former environment secretary, Jose Lutzenberger, warned, “The pharmaceutical companies have hundreds of researchers combing forests throughout the world, talking to Indians to discover plants with medicinal qualities, and sending back botanical material. Then we shall have to pay royalties to use the medicines developed from them.” At the …

The Professionalization of Brazilian Scientists, the Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science (SBPC), and the State, 1948-60

The Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science (SBPC) played a crucial role in the professionalization of Brazilian scientists between 1950 and 1960. During this period, Brazilian science underwent a redefinition in which scientific interests and political legitimacy were closely imbricated in issues of state power and political economy. The SBPC strove to define the logic of the scientific field according to the professional interests of the scientists. However, given changes in the country's political economy which altered the power balance within the state, and the changing nature of political legitimacy, SBPC's logic was ultimately defeated. The main conclusion arising from this analysis is that professionalization is shaped by political struggles between opposing logics of political action. It also suggests that the nature of these different logics is to be found in the interaction of the `disciplines' discourse, in Foucault's sense; and this, in turn is shaped by the professional practice of the actors.

Sources of Influence on Problem Choice in Brazilian University Agricultural Science

It has been suggested that agricultural scientists in developing countries are more willing to pursue lines of pure research established abroad, than to work on more applied problems of farm production. This note examines the criteria used by agricultural scientists, working at four Brazilian universities in two distinct subfields, to select research topics. The evidence presented here contradicts this accepted view. On the contrary, Brazilian scientists tend to choose research topics which they perceive to be directly relevant to local agricultural problems.

Brazilian scientists' publications and mainstream science: Some policy implications

Against the common view that scientific output in peripheral and non-English speaking countries is largely underrepresented inScience Citation Index (SCI), this study shows that academic Brazilian scientists in chemistry and electrical engineering tend to publish in “good” international journals covered bySCI. The rate of citations they earn, however, looks rather poor. The reasons why Brazilian scientists publish in foreign journals are analysed and the policy of encouraging scientists to publish their best contributions abroad is questioned.

Grande CarajáS, International Financing Agencies, and Biological Diversity in Southeastern Brazilian Amazonia

Abstract: The southeastern Brazilian Amazon region (here defined as the region south of the Amazon River, from the Xingu River east to the Atlantic coast), holds vast mineral, foresty, and hydroelectric resources, making it one of the humid tropics' most promising areas for concentrated economic development. Here I focus on the development project known as “Grande Carajás,” which encompasses most of the region in question, with primay activities at the iron ore mining site in the Serra dos Carajás, Pará at the Ponta de Madeira port facility near São Luís, Maranhão, and along the 890–kilometer railroad that links the two. Environmental planning requirements set by international financing agencies participating in Carajás have minimized the environmental impact of the project's direct planned development programs, provided research opportunities for Brazilian scientists, and secured indigenous tribal lands. Other development and colonization (both planned and unplanned) drawn to the Carajás economic axis have a potentially devastating impact on regional biological diversity and must be considered in a comprehensive analysis of the project's effect on regional tropical deforestation.

Conservation of white uacaries in Amazonian várzea

Until two decades ago, the only reference to the white uacari of the upper Amazon, known locally as the ‘English monkey’, had been provided by the British naturalist Henry Walter Bates, who saw captured animals during his sojourn in Amazonia in the 1850s. A major Brazilian initiative led us to the first intensive field study of the species, which was carried out in 1983 and 1984 by one of the authors, J. M. Ayres, with the participation of a large number of Brazilian scientists and a few from overseas. The study illustrated the uniqueness of thevárzeahabitat in which the animals live and the threats it currently faces. It also captured the attention of both the Brazilian scientific community and the public. Possibilities for the creation of a reserve area within thevárzeaare now being implemented.

The “meaning” of citation in the context of a scientifically peripheral country

This paper reports an investigation into the referencing pattern of Brazilian agricultural scientists. The study was based on the use of both quantitative data-citations appearing in a sizeable sample of articles published by these scientists—and qualitative data-interviews with a large number of scientists who authored the source, papers. The aim was to explore the extent to which citation counts may be taken as valid indicators of the quality, influence or impact of published scientific knowledge in the general context of a scientifically peripheral country. The findings presented confirm the view that in this context, citation patterns are significantly influenced by factors “external” to the scientific realm and, thus, reflect neither simply the quality, influence nor even the impact of the research work referred to.

The identification of Josef Mengele. A triumph of international cooperation.

In recent weeks, world attention has been focused on the identification of skeletal remains suspected of being those of the most widely sought Nazi war criminal still at large--Josef Mengele. Several important turns in the investigation of his whereabouts led to a small city south of São Paulo, where he had been living until 1979. Mengele was reported to have drowned and to have been buried in a country cemetery near his last residence. The initial processing of the remains was done at the Medicolegal Institute of São Paulo by police officials in consultation with anthropologists and dentists as well as Dr. Wilmes Teixeira of Mogi das Cruzes, a suburb of São Paulo. Dr. Teixeira coordinated the team of authorized international forensic experts officially representing the governments of West Germany and the United States, as well as the Simon Wiesenthal Center of Los Angeles, who joined Brazilian scientists in completing identification. The success of the investigation was due to complete cooperation among members of the team, resulting in verification, within a reasonable scientific certainty, that these were the remains of Josef Mengele.