The agents and the means of dissemination of scientific and technological knowledge in Portugal in the 19th century

Abstract

The latest research carried out both by economic and scientific historians highlights a larger number of variables in the relationship between science/technology and economic development. The analysis has gone beyond the more or less direct influences between them and focused on issues like the scientific attitude, the existence of societies more suited for the production of an applied science, the development of a cultural environment more inclined to apply the new knowledge, the links between the industrialists and the scientists or the role played by the men of science in the economic growth of the countries. In this approach the dissemination of knowledge plays a major role, since through it science and technology withdrew from the inner circles and merged into the outer world of society, thus influencing culture and mentalities and fostering a more open attitude towards production, transference and application of new technologies on the part of politicians, entrepreneurs and the public opinion at large. The work below aims to discuss the role-played by academies, societies and associations in the production and dissemination of scientific and technological knowledge, as well as its spreading made by the press and the scientific and pedagogical conferences. The extent to which exhibitions and museums associated with the technical learning contributed to that spreading as well as to the generalisation of new tools, which the technological improvements put at the population's disposal, is also examined.