A “lição de coisas”: o Museu Paraense e o ensino da história natural (1889-1900)

Abstract

The main focus of this thesis is to reflect about the publicization of the Natural History in Pará during the end of the 19th Century through the science teaching promoted by the Museu Paraense de História Natural e Etnografia (1889-1900). In this study I make an emphasis in the notions of Education and Natural History in the speeches of the persons who are historically evolved with this Institution and in the strategies which were use to promote the science in the state. Thus, I identify some facts that were found in the documents of the Governators of Pará and in the Bulletin of the Paraense Museum, that shows that since the beginning, in 1866, It sought to study the local nature, publicize the results of the researches and promote lessons about the Natural History. I debate the educational importance of the Public Conferences, the formation of Young researchers of Natural History, the Boletim do Museu Paraense de História Natural e Etnografia (1894), and the Zoo botanical Garden, through their own specific characteristics. Therefore, the research is allied of the different subjects and lines of investigation that have been ocupied with the teaching and dissemination of scientific informations of Natural History Museums; It demonstrates the contribution of this analysis to others researchs of publicization and the history of the Natural Science Teaching. Nervertheless, It can be used as theoretical and methodological support to comparative studies in this field.