Ciências sem fronteiras: comunicação epistolar, redes de correspondência e circulação das cartas de Agassiz no século das nações

Abstract

In the nineteenth century, golden age of natural history, the epistolary communication was a powerful tool. From different territories of the globe, in a virtual way, naturalists crossed regions and countries, nations and empires through the circulation of letters. As correspondents, these men and women of science formed communities of knowledge, and intensified their intellectual and material exchanges. The epistolary communication was an elementary part of the scientific culture of the naturalists. Within this form of communication, natural history pursued the formula of a global science and transcended borders, influencing general methods, knowledge, and local scientific practices. Through its scientific correspondence networks, the naturalist Louis Agassiz actively participated in communities of natural historians in the nineteenth century. Seeking recognition in his field, he moved to different Western regions, which reflected directly on the map that illustrates the circulation of his letters, and it also allowed him to incorporate many persons into his correspondence network. Agassiz engaged, into his network, from well-known names in the history of science and authorities (as the emperor D. Pedro II) to individuals who are now forgotten, as humblefishermen. In this dissertation, I demonstrate the relevance of Agassizs correspondents and their respective locations in the scientific production of natural history from a national and global scale in the nineteenth century. To this end, I describe some of Agassizs correspondence networks with Europeans, North and South Americans, men and women, who have transcended physical and intellectual limitations of natural history, and who crossed boundaries of occupation, social groups, language, space, and time to build cooperation, sharing a common understanding. I conceive science not only as part of a system of power, but, above all, I take into account the interconnection of its practices through a system of communication, represented by personal and written dialogues.