De 'terra de diletantes' a centro de formação de profissionais : o 'X Club' e a mão inglesa do desenvolvimento científico

Abstract

The idea that science is not a subject for dilettantes is nothing but trivial nowadays, yet it was not so in 19th-century England, the country credited with being the cradle of modern science. The land of Bacon, Boyle and Newton, Faraday and Dalton, had to wait longer than neighbouring France and Germany to make the science practiced in its domains a matter for professionals. This is noticeable in despite of having had, since the end of the 18th century, an unparalleled scientific culture, which manifested itself in the fact of British citizens of all ages had become avid consumers of scientific texts and exhibitions and had the Great Exhibition of 1851 as its epitome. The belated process through which England, as far as science was concerned, went from being a “land of dilettantes” (as the German chemist Justus von Liebig once suggested upon a visit) to become a centre of development of professional scientists is the heart of this doctoral research. It is suggested here that a small coterie of young scientists, self-title “X Club”, led by Thomas Henry Huxley, played a significant role in the afore mentioned transition by deliberately working to urge the State to “Germanise” its scientific output. In the long run, the “X Club” was responsible for spreading the theory of evolution to shape the next generations as well for using it as a watershed between those who were scientists and those who were not.