Giants Upon Our Shoulders: A Philosophical History of Physics in Uruguay

This book offers the hitherto unknown history of physics in Uruguay. To describe this history, it is necessary to take a broader view of the first Latin American attempts at research in physics. These first researchers dedicated to the understanding of physics received the "giants" achievements of the discipline from Europe or the United States, but all they could do was find ways to preserve most of this knowledge. Thus, instead of thinking of science as an international enterprise in which all members participate with the same goal of looking far ahead, this book reflects on the real circumstances of Uruguayan and Latin American scientists, who were willing to become part of the international communities, but did not have the proper training, resources and cultural support to do so. That's why the history contained in this book is mixed with some philosophical problems about the real nature of the practice of physics and science in general. The mainstream definitions of scientific activity, or the proper concept of science should be adapted to material conditions and different kinds of aims and proposals. This book explores, based on the history of physics in Uruguay and Latin America, new standards of "the scientific" itself, making it of great interest to historians and philosophers of science and those interested in the history of Latin America and Uruguay in particular.

The first full-length volume on the history of physics of Uruguay Contributes to the growing field of history of science of Latin America Provides an in-depth philosophical perspective to understand science in Latin America

Autorentext

Juan A. Queijo Olano is Professor at the University of the Republic of Uruguay. He holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the State University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). He teaches courses on the general history and philosophy of science, the historiography of science and the philosophy of the natural sciences. His research focuses on the history and philosophy of physics in Latin America. He is author of From the Laboratory: the Origins of Physics in Uruguay (University of the Republic Press, 2023) and Lorraine Daston in Montevideo (University of the Republic Press, 2023) with Isabel Wschebor. He contributed to the book Handbook for the Historiography of Science Condé & Salomon [Eds.] (Springer Nature, 2023) with the chapter Historical Epistemology: A German Connection. He has published in Physics in Perspective, Transversal: International Journal for the Historiography of Science, and other journals. Evelyn Mozo Meneses is a Master student in Epistemology and History of Science at the Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero, Buenos Aires. Her thesis, scheduled for the first semester of 2025, is entitled The Role of the Concept of Aether in the Optics of Isaac Newton and Christiaan Huygens. She teaches philosophy of science, history of science and logic at the State Secondary School. She is co-author of the article The malleability of physics: genealogies of a discipline in the nineteenth century Rio de la Plata (Revista Brasileira de História da Ciência, 2024), with Juan A. Queijo Olano.

Inhalt

Introduction.- 1 Genealogies of a discipline in the Río de la Plata.- 2 Towards Scientific Faculties.- 3 Physics and its problems at the university at the beginning of the 20th century.- 4 The theory of relativity and its cultural impact on the university.- 5 The university and science around 1950.- 6 The idea of Central Institutes for Scientific Research.- 7 Conclusions.- Index.