Success and Failure of Philosophy Colleges: science, scientists and universities in Brazil, 1930-1960

Abstract

This article will discuss the meaning of the experience of philosophy colleges for the institutionalization of science in Brazil in the period between the 1930s and 1960s. We intend to examine how the role of the College of Philosophy, Sciences and Modern Languages of the University of São Paulo (FFCL) and the National Philosophy College of the University of Brazil (FNFi) is presented in texts about the development of national
scientific activities collected into two books recognized as symbolically important for the affirmation of the historiography of science in Brazil. They are: As Ciências no Brasil (Sciences in Brazil), organized by Fernando de Azevedo and published in two volumes in 1955 ,and História das Ciências no Brasil (History of science in Brazil), organized by Mario Guimarães Ferri and Shozo Motoyama and published in three volumes between 1979 and 1980.