Special Issues by Clara Florensa
History of Science, 2022
Florensa, Clara, and Agustí Nieto-Galan. “Special Section: Science Popularization under Franco.” ... more Florensa, Clara, and Agustí Nieto-Galan. “Special Section: Science Popularization under Franco.” History of Science 60, no. 3 (2022): 329–435.
Centaurus, 2016
“Scuffles, Scoops and Scams” – that means heated controversies, “great” discoveries and elaborate... more “Scuffles, Scoops and Scams” – that means heated controversies, “great” discoveries and elaborate fraud. This special issue presents 6 case studies on the intrinsic relationship of prehistory and the daily press, covering the period from the 1870s to the end of the twentieth century. It shows that archaeologists and palaeontologists and the mass media have always used each other as resources. Public attention for often contentious scientific claims was traded for gripping and thus newsworthy stories about “our” origins. Written, read and collected by prehistorians, newspaper articles were the fuel of scientific debate. The current “medialization" of science has a long prehistory
Papers by Clara Florensa
History of Science, 2022
The study of science popularization in dictatorships, such as Franco’s regime, offers a useful wi... more The study of science popularization in dictatorships, such as Franco’s regime, offers a useful window through which to review definitions of controversial categories such as “popular science” and the “public sphere.” It also adds a new analytical perspective to the historiography of dictatorships and their totalitarian nature. Moreover, studying science popularization in these regimes provides new tools for a critical analysis of key contemporary concepts such as nationalism, internationalism, democracy, and technocracy.
History of Science, 2022
In the late 1940s in Spain, a group of young scholars, most of them newly appointed university le... more In the late 1940s in Spain, a group of young scholars, most of them newly appointed university lecturers, gained control of Arbor, the promotional journal of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC: The Spanish National Research Council), the institution that General Franco had founded after the Spanish Civil War (1936-9) to organize Spanish science. This group constituted the intellectual core of the more reactionary, Catholic traditionalist faction of Franco's regime, and they coveted greater political power, in competition with other factions of the regime. Lacking the opportunity to launch an overt political campaign within a dictatorship, the group started a fight for the cultural conquest of Spain. In this cultural struggle for hegemony, journals, magazines, cultural associations, publishing houses, newspapers, and cultural centers became their weapons. By analyzing this faction's views on and activities within the popularization of science, particularly regarding theories of evolution, this article argues that popular discourse on science played a critical role in the cultural struggle both as a "safe" channel in which to forward their claims and as a tool to gather popular attention through topics of general interest. A covert political campaign was conducted through the popularization of science and this, in turn, fueled the construction of a public sphere for science in a dictatorial context. Scientific popularization became a much-appreciated tool to achieve cultural hegemony and, as such, it also became a central element in constructing and legitimating the ideological foundations of Franco's regime.
Culture & History Digital Journal, 2021
Science took on several distinct uses and meanings under Francoism. It was exhibited as a token o... more Science took on several distinct uses and meanings under Francoism. It was exhibited as a token of intellectual prowess, deployed as a mighty diplomatic tool, applied as a resource for industry, and invoked in support of National Catholicism. However, in order to successfully fulfill all these roles, science had first to be cleansed and purified, for it was historically bound to materialism, atheism, and positivism. Physics had developed a mechanical worldview that precluded spiritual agency, and the theory of evolution had deprived man of his privileged place in nature. Could these developments be reversed? Classical physics would not easily serve the needs of the new National Catholic state, but modern physics might do, acting as a model and a tool for biological reasoning. In this paper we describe the various attempts by Spanish scientists, philosophers, and intellectuals to enlist modern physics and a revised version of evolution in the construction of the new regime. They stro...
Centaurus, 2021
On April 8, 1966, 4,808 barrels—208.2 L each—were buried at Savannah River nuclear cemetery in Ai... more On April 8, 1966, 4,808 barrels—208.2 L each—were buried at Savannah River nuclear cemetery in Aiken, South Carolina. They contained about 1,100 tons of radioactive contaminated soil and vegetation from Palomares, a village on the South Coast of Spain. Earlier that year, about 9 kg of plutonium had been scattered over Palomares due to a U.S. Air Force accident involving four nuclear bombs. In this paper I reconstruct the diplomatic negotiations between the US and Spain to establish the clean‐up criteria for Palomares by focusing on the contaminated earth. This work provides an interpretation of the construction of radiological thresholds (for burial and health protection) through nuclear diplomacy and highlights the importance of public visibility in this process. The Palomares earth was considered nuclear or not nuclear depending on different factors, not only its radioactivity readings. In this paper I disentangle these factors and show to what extent materiality, diplomacy, and public visibility are intertwined in the construction of nuclearity.
Actes d'Història de la Ciència i de la Tècnica (Nova època), 2017
A la sessió de cloenda de la Segona Conferència Internacional sobre Genètica Humana, celebrada a ... more A la sessió de cloenda de la Segona Conferència Internacional sobre Genètica Humana, celebrada a Roma el 1961, els assistents van aprovar una moció per a advertir els governs responsables sobre els perills de les explosions atòmiques per als descendents d’individus exposats a la radiació atmosfèrica. Entre els assistents hi havia cinc científics espanyols. El genetista Antoni Prevosti, membre de la delegació espanyola a la Conferència, va informar de la moció en una revista científica espanyola. El missatge era clar: tot i que invisible, hi havia un perill real relacionat amb la radiació atmosfèrica. Cinc anys més tard, quatre bombes nuclears nord-americanes van caure en un poble de la costa espanyola, Palomares, a causa d’un xoc accidental entre dos avions de les Forces Aèries dels EUA durant una maniobra d’abastiment de combustible. Dues de les bombes van vessar el seu contingut a terra i una d’elles va romandre perduda gairebé tres mesos, enfonsada al mar. La resposta oficial a l’accident va ser una campanya de comunicació pública que va mostrar el ministre d’Informació i Turisme, Manuel Fraga Iribarne, al costat de l’ambaixador dels EUA a Espanya, Angier Biddle Duke, banyant-se a la platja de Palomares. El missatge era clar: tal i com les imatges feien visible, no hi havia cap risc per als habitants de Palomares relacionat amb la contaminació radioactiva. Sota la dictadura franquista (1939-1975), el govern espanyol va controlar rígidament els mitjans de comunicació. El règim franquista va desenvolupar un model de comunicació
que seguia la lògica de diferents veritats a diferents nivells (Florensa, 2017). El cas de Palomares n’és un exemple il·lustratiu: mentre diversos científics estaven visibilitzant el risc nuclear entre els seus fòrums elitistes i de circulació limitada (revistes científiques especialitzades, memòries i actes del CSIC), el fil de radiació nuclear era invisibilitzat al públic general. Seguint l’anàlisi d’Olga Kuchinskaya sobre l’accident de Txernòbil (Kuchinskaya, 2012; 2014), aquest article reflexionarà sobre la producció i propagació de la visibilitat versus la invisibilitat del risc de la radiació nuclear en el marc de la dictadura franquista.
eVOLUCIÓN, 2017
RESUMEN (Abstract, in English, below): La intención de este artículo es contribuir a confeccionar... more RESUMEN (Abstract, in English, below): La intención de este artículo es contribuir a confeccionar un marco contextual, histórico, político y cultural que nos dé elementos para reflexionar sobre, y quizás entender mejor, la gestación, ejecución y recepción del libro La Evolución. Los tres editores y hasta un tercio de sus autores (lo que se tradujo en aproximadamente la mitad de las contribuciones) pertenecieron a, o colaboraron con, un grupo de intelectuales católicos del franquismo llamado Asociación Menéndez Pelayo. Esta asociación, fundada en 1956, pretendía agrupar intelectuales católicos de todos los campos para difundir y promover una ciencia católica en España. La agrupación, heredera del proyecto cultural y político del los tradicionalistas católicos y monárquicos del llamado Grupo Arbor (facción del régimen de Franco en pugna interna por el poder), llegó a tener más de 200 socios entre los cuales se contaban rectores de por lo menos 7 universidades del país, científicos, humanistas y teólogos de reconocido prestigio, así como políticos y empresarios influyentes. Esta asociación, que accedió a puestos cruciales de gestión de la cultura, tenía especial interés en crear un discurso público sobre cuestiones de ciencia problemáticas para el dogma, entre las cuales se encontraba el evolucionismo, porque de ello dependía la implantación de su proyecto tanto cultural como político. En este artículo se exploran los vínculos entre 'La Evolución' y este grupo de presión político-cultural del franquismo.
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ABSTRACT: The purpose of this article is to contribute to the creation of a contextual, historical, political and cultural framework that will give us elements to reflect on, and perhaps better understand, the gestation, execution and reception of the book 'La Evolución'. The three editors and up to a third of its authors (approximately half of the contributions) belonged to, or collaborated with, a group of Catholic intellectuals of the Franco regime called Asociación Menéndez Pelayo. This association, founded in 1956, sought to bring together Catholic intellectuals from all fields in order to spread and promote a Catholic science in Spain. The group, heir to the cultural and political project of the traditional Catholic monarchists of the so-called Grupo Arbor (faction of the Franco's regime in internal struggle for power), achieved more than 200 partners among which there were rectors of at least 7 universities of the country, scientists, humanists and theologians of recognized prestige, as well as influential politicians and entrepreneurs. This association, which dominated crucial positions in the management of culture, had a special interest in creating a public discourse on science issues problematic for dogma – evolutionism among them-because the implementation of its cultural and political project depended on that. This article explores the links between La Evolución and this group of political-cultural pressure of the Franco's regime.
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2017
This thesis explores the discourses on the evolution of species in the first three decades of Fra... more This thesis explores the discourses on the evolution of species in the first three decades of Francoism (1939Francoism ( -1967. Starting from the study of these discourses in the public sphere, it reaches the debates on this subject in elitist groups: ecclesiastical elites, scientists and the so-called ideologues of the regime. The thesis shows the concern of these elites for the circulation of evolutionary ideas among the general public. This preoccupation was manifested, first, in an evolutionary silence in the general press that lasted for the first ten years of Francoism and, subsequently, in the initiatives to build a version of evolutionism consistent with the ideological principles of the regime, and apt for its circulation in the public sphere. The thesis argues that
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2017
This thesis explores the discourses on the evolution of species in the first three decades of Fra... more This thesis explores the discourses on the evolution of species in the first three decades of Francoism (1939-1967). Starting from the study of these discourses in the public sphere, it reaches the debates on this subject in elitist groups: ecclesiastical elites, scientists and the so-called ideologues of the regime. The thesis shows the concern of these elites for the circulation of evolutionary ideas among the general public. This preoccupation was manifested, first, in an evolutionary silence in the general press that lasted for the first ten years of Francoism and, subsequently, in the initiatives to build a version of evolutionism consistent with the ideological principles of the regime, and apt for its circulation in the public sphere. The thesis argues that the discourses on evolution played a key role in the Catholic culture -and science- project, which was one of the programmatic bases of the New State. Through them, not only the anti-materialist and transcendental rhetoric advocated by the regime, but also its anti-communist rhetoric, were legitimized.
At an international level, the ideal of science intended for the New Spain clashed with the principles on which the Modern Synthesis of Evolution, or Neo-Darwinism, was being built. Neo-Darwinism rejected any transcendental explanation of the evolutionary process. The new current was being promoted with strength and resources from the United Kingdom and the United States. This thesis reveals the involvement of Spanish scientists in the construction of a scientifically based “Traditional Synthesis of Evolution” able to compete with Neo-Darwinism. The implantation of a Catholic science depended on the success of this alternative synthesis. And the Catholic science was part of the Catholic culture in which the ideologues of the Francois state had based the implantation of the new regime. In this sense, this thesis proposes that the scientists were also converted into ideologues of the Franco regime. Their discourses on science helped to build its foundations, legitimize it and perpetuate it.
The study of the public discourses leads to the focus on the Generation of ’48. This group, who were heirs and continuers of the traditional Catholic and monarchist Spanish thought, competed with other factions of the regime for cultural hegemony. Imposing their cultural project was considered a key step in achieving their political goals. The culture they advocated was, like that of all groups, a Catholic and unitary culture, in which all branches of knowledge were linked and united to the trunk of theology.
The peculiarity of the Generation of ’48 was that it tried to liberate culture of all past and present “heterodoxy” and to base it solely in the most “orthodox” tradition. This group tried to establish and disseminate a version of evolution coherent with its principles, free of all “heterodox” seeds: an “Evolution without problem” for Franco's Spain. This faction of the regime dominated strategic positions in the management of information and culture in Spain for much of the period covered in this thesis. Therefore, its discourses on evolution are the focus of this thesis. Through the initiatives to create its discourse, in which renowned Spanish scientists participated, this thesis has discovered a network that brought together the Generation of ’48 in a common endeavour beyond what the historiography had brought to light.
The “Traditional Synthesis of Evolution”, which was attempted and spread in Spain, however, was not the autarchic fruit of an isolated Franco regime. The research shows the connections and international collaborations of the project, and shows how Spain not only sought to be “the spiritual reserve of the West” but also “the scientific reserve of the West”. The Generation of ’48 was especially excited about this project, in which several renowned Spanish scientists played a crucial role.
Centaurus, 2016
'Darwin was wrong' was a headline that made news around the world in March 1956. Johannes Hürzele... more 'Darwin was wrong' was a headline that made news around the world in March 1956. Johannes Hürzeler, a Swiss palaeontologist, had just made public his theory that Oreopithecus bambolii, a fossil thus far classified as an extinct Old World monkey, was in fact a 12-million-year old hominid. That was 10 million years (!) older than the oldest hominids accepted at the time. Two years later he unearthed a complete skeleton of Oreopithecus in Italy. The echo of this discovery in the media was enormous yet the newspaper coverage in different western countries followed distinctive patterns. This paper will show these differences and point out possible explanations that go far beyond scientific disagreement. It will be argued that the press is a privileged source for comparing simultaneous reactions to the same scientific fact around the globe and for helping us discover national and supranational patterns of scientific discourse while linking them to their contexts. This paper also highlights the role of the news pieces as 'supports of knowledge.' Just like bones or scientific articles, news items circulate prompting in turn the circulation of other 'supports of knowledge' such as fossil remains or scientists.
Centaurus, 2016
The intimate relationship between prehistoric research and the media is by now quite well known. ... more The intimate relationship between prehistoric research and the media is by now quite well known. Prehistoric archaeology and what soon would be called palaeoanthropology were from the very beginning, i.e. the mid nineteenth-century public sciences. Newspapers reported amply on the discoveries of stones and bones, because their readers were eager to learn more about ¿where we came from¿, as historians of science have pointed out. Yet this proposal aims at taking a much more principal and systematic look at this symbiosis between prehistory and the press in two respects.
1. Principal: the birth of the discipline of prehistory around 1850 coincides with a decisive transformation of the daily press. The print run and number of newspapers skyrocketed. What was new was not only the sheer quantity and ubiquity of this mass medium but the broad ideological spectrum newspapers reflected. At the same time theories dealing with the origin of man were charged with political, religious and social implications. Hence researchers and newspapers strongly interacted with each other (affirmative or critical) according to their ideological leanings e.g. with respect to the theory of evolution ¿ and not only in the nineteenth but well into the twentieth century as this special issue will try to demonstrate.
To retrace the trajectory of prehistoric research and print journalism in parallel is also crucial in order to understand how we learned to visualize our ancestors. The illustrated press did not only feature photos of excavations but more importantly reconstructions and caricatures of prehistoric creatures. These images did not only have a strong impact on the general public but also influenced prehistorians in the conception of their research objects. Just as prehistory deals with fossil skulls, hand-axes and cave paintings newspapers too have their own materiality that this special will reflect: the combination of text and images, the flow of information or the cutting out and collecting of articles. It is the ¿logic of the media¿, the constant vying for attention that shapes the reporting on discoveries and controversies. That is why this special issue focuses on scoops, scams and scuffles. Questions of authenticity (and debunking) were central both to the endeavours of the scholars and to the coverage of the newspapers.
2. Systematic: Newspapers and magazines do not simply report about prehistoric discoveries. The eight case studies of this special issue will show the sheer breadth of the different roles played by the press in the knowledge making process. Newspapers served prehistorians of all sorts to put forward their own (mostly contentious) interpretations. As a consequence mass media turned into an ¿extended battlefield¿ for controversies. The making, contesting and defending of claims in newspapers follow different rules in comparison with academic publications. They allow for more liberties and may also be instrumentalized in order to drum up financial or political support for excavations or to campaign for the professionalization of prehistory. A recurring theme of this special issue is the nationalist appropriation of fossils or rock art in print media. And finally, the focus on the daily press also brings to light the importance of actors outside academia: amateur scientists, local dignitaries, labourers and journalists.
All six articles will be brief in the presentation of the prehistoric discovery in case. Each one of them will focus on the characteristic interplay between prehistorians and the media and analyse different variants. The special issue will cover the period from the last third of the nineteenth century to the late twentieth century. It will include more nationally focused case studies on France, Spain, and Germany as well as case studies that reflect the inherent international dimension of prehistory.
Actes d'Història de la Ciència i de la Tècnica, 2014
Actes d'Història de la Ciència i de la Tècnica, 2014
In May 2013, the " 7th European Spring School of History on Science and Popularization " took a c... more In May 2013, the " 7th European Spring School of History on Science and Popularization " took a closer look at the roles television and science have played, and still play in our daily lives. The aim of the School was to contribute to the analysis of television as a particular space where the complex relationship between science and its publics unfolds. It was an invitation to explore and experience television as a major constituent of the production, circulation and appropriation of scientific, medical and technological knowledge. Notwithstanding the sweeping expansion of the internet in the last two decades, people still build a highly significant part of the symbolic framework of the social, economic, political and cultural fabric around television. Media and science are two sets of discourses and practices that play key roles in the construction and operation of contemporary societies. Science has been described as a form of communication (Secord, 2004; Topham, 2009), and media as a set of technology-mediated communication practices (Thompson, 1995; Couldry, 2004; Bräuchler & Postill,
Dynamis, 2013
All traces of evolutionary theories had been removed from the Spanish public sphere during the la... more All traces of evolutionary theories had been removed from the Spanish public sphere during the late stages of the Civil War and early Francoism. Darwin’s books were cleared from the shelves of libraries and bookshops and evolutionism was replaced by crea- tionism in primary and higher education manuals. In the public sphere, there was a mixture of concepts concerning evolution that were borrowed from different evolutionary theories, some of them outdated. Talking about evolution in the press meant talking in a nineteenth- century manner about the ape origin of man, materialism and threat to the Catholic faith. In other words, evolution was something unpleasant and dangerous. In this context, certain Spanish palaeontologists went to considerable lengths to try and avoid all of this bad popular imaginary (linking it to Darwinism), and to rehabilitate evolutionism from a finalistic-theistic point of view, which fitted in well with the ideology of the Franco regime. This effort, which succeeded in bringing evolutionism back into the public sphere following a period of «evo- lutionary silence», was relegated to second place when a new period of regime openness came about. The more scientific jargon of genetics and Modern Synthesis, which was less conducive to origins and theological discussion, fitted in better with the aims of the new regime, thus changing public scientific authority from bones to genes. This paper highlights the ongoing process of the appropriation of evolutionary theory through the case study of the presence and treatment during Francoism of the theory of evolution in the Catalan newspaper La Vanguardia Española.
In: BUCCHI, M. and TRENCH, B. (eds.) (2012). Quality, Honesty and Beauty in Science and Technology Communication PCST 2012 Book of Papers. Observa Science in Society, Vicenza, 2012, ISBN: 978-88-904514-9-2, pp. 182-185., 2012
Communication of evolutionary theory in Spain is an illuminating example of how science communica... more Communication of evolutionary theory in Spain is an illuminating example of how science communication changes alongside politics. Besides, it si also an example of how an apparently objective and neutral scientific theory can be used as an ideological tool and haow its communication plays a key role in it.
In: Bellver Loizaga, Vicent; D’Amaro, Francesco; Molina Puertos, Isabel; Ramos Tolosa, Jorge (Coords.) (2015). "Otras voces, otros ámbitos": los sujetos y su entorno. Nuevas perspectivas de la historia sociocultural”, Universitat de València, Valencia, ISBN: 978-84-606-5875-7, pp. 184-190., 2015
Para un estudio detallado del papel de Albareda en el CSIC y en la ciencia y la investigación esp... more Para un estudio detallado del papel de Albareda en el CSIC y en la ciencia y la investigación españolas del franquismo ver: Ibid., pp. 307-332.
In: BLANCO ABELLÁN, M. (coord.) (2014). Enseñanza e Historia de las Ciencias y de las Técnicas: Orientación, Metodologías y Perspectivas. Barcelona, SEHCYT, ISBN: 978-84-616-9283-5, p. 59-65., 2014
RESUMEN (Abstract, in English, below):
En este artículo se estudia la relación epistolar que man... more RESUMEN (Abstract, in English, below):
En este artículo se estudia la relación epistolar que mantuvo el paleontólogo sabadellense Miquel Crusafont con dos personajes del mundo de la enseñanza, el padre jesuita Pedro Juan Azpeitia y el padre escolapio Francisco Cubells, durante los años 50. Por su posición estratégica como formadores de formadores, estos profesores religiosos se propusieron actuar como caballos de Troya del evolucionismo finalista-eísta de Crusafont: lo incorporaron en sus clases y en los planes docentes de su institución, refractaria a esas ideas, pudiendo jugar un papel clave en su diseminación, formulación y en una posterior aceptación del evolucionismo en general.
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ABSTRACT:
In this article it will be discussed the epistolary relationship between Sabadell paleontologist Miquel Crusafont and two characters from the education world, Jesuit Father Pedro Juan Azpeitia and Piarist Father Francisco Cubells, during the 50s. Due to their strategic position as trainers of trainers, these two religious teachers set out to act as Trojan horses for Crusafont’s finalistic-theistic evolutionism: they incorporated it into their classes and into the teaching plans of their institutions, which were refractory to those ideas. This way, they could have played a key role in the dissemination and formulation of this evolutionism and in a later acceptance of evolution in general.
In: MOLINERO, Carme y TÉBAR, Javier (eds.) (2013). VIII Encuentro de Investigadores del Franquismo. Barcelona, 21-22 de noviembre de 2012. Barcelona, Centre d'Estudis sobre les Èpoques Franquista i Democràtica (UAB) y Fundació Cipriano García, pp.1-34, Nov 2013
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Special Issues by Clara Florensa
Papers by Clara Florensa
que seguia la lògica de diferents veritats a diferents nivells (Florensa, 2017). El cas de Palomares n’és un exemple il·lustratiu: mentre diversos científics estaven visibilitzant el risc nuclear entre els seus fòrums elitistes i de circulació limitada (revistes científiques especialitzades, memòries i actes del CSIC), el fil de radiació nuclear era invisibilitzat al públic general. Seguint l’anàlisi d’Olga Kuchinskaya sobre l’accident de Txernòbil (Kuchinskaya, 2012; 2014), aquest article reflexionarà sobre la producció i propagació de la visibilitat versus la invisibilitat del risc de la radiació nuclear en el marc de la dictadura franquista.
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ABSTRACT: The purpose of this article is to contribute to the creation of a contextual, historical, political and cultural framework that will give us elements to reflect on, and perhaps better understand, the gestation, execution and reception of the book 'La Evolución'. The three editors and up to a third of its authors (approximately half of the contributions) belonged to, or collaborated with, a group of Catholic intellectuals of the Franco regime called Asociación Menéndez Pelayo. This association, founded in 1956, sought to bring together Catholic intellectuals from all fields in order to spread and promote a Catholic science in Spain. The group, heir to the cultural and political project of the traditional Catholic monarchists of the so-called Grupo Arbor (faction of the Franco's regime in internal struggle for power), achieved more than 200 partners among which there were rectors of at least 7 universities of the country, scientists, humanists and theologians of recognized prestige, as well as influential politicians and entrepreneurs. This association, which dominated crucial positions in the management of culture, had a special interest in creating a public discourse on science issues problematic for dogma – evolutionism among them-because the implementation of its cultural and political project depended on that. This article explores the links between La Evolución and this group of political-cultural pressure of the Franco's regime.
At an international level, the ideal of science intended for the New Spain clashed with the principles on which the Modern Synthesis of Evolution, or Neo-Darwinism, was being built. Neo-Darwinism rejected any transcendental explanation of the evolutionary process. The new current was being promoted with strength and resources from the United Kingdom and the United States. This thesis reveals the involvement of Spanish scientists in the construction of a scientifically based “Traditional Synthesis of Evolution” able to compete with Neo-Darwinism. The implantation of a Catholic science depended on the success of this alternative synthesis. And the Catholic science was part of the Catholic culture in which the ideologues of the Francois state had based the implantation of the new regime. In this sense, this thesis proposes that the scientists were also converted into ideologues of the Franco regime. Their discourses on science helped to build its foundations, legitimize it and perpetuate it.
The study of the public discourses leads to the focus on the Generation of ’48. This group, who were heirs and continuers of the traditional Catholic and monarchist Spanish thought, competed with other factions of the regime for cultural hegemony. Imposing their cultural project was considered a key step in achieving their political goals. The culture they advocated was, like that of all groups, a Catholic and unitary culture, in which all branches of knowledge were linked and united to the trunk of theology.
The peculiarity of the Generation of ’48 was that it tried to liberate culture of all past and present “heterodoxy” and to base it solely in the most “orthodox” tradition. This group tried to establish and disseminate a version of evolution coherent with its principles, free of all “heterodox” seeds: an “Evolution without problem” for Franco's Spain. This faction of the regime dominated strategic positions in the management of information and culture in Spain for much of the period covered in this thesis. Therefore, its discourses on evolution are the focus of this thesis. Through the initiatives to create its discourse, in which renowned Spanish scientists participated, this thesis has discovered a network that brought together the Generation of ’48 in a common endeavour beyond what the historiography had brought to light.
The “Traditional Synthesis of Evolution”, which was attempted and spread in Spain, however, was not the autarchic fruit of an isolated Franco regime. The research shows the connections and international collaborations of the project, and shows how Spain not only sought to be “the spiritual reserve of the West” but also “the scientific reserve of the West”. The Generation of ’48 was especially excited about this project, in which several renowned Spanish scientists played a crucial role.
1. Principal: the birth of the discipline of prehistory around 1850 coincides with a decisive transformation of the daily press. The print run and number of newspapers skyrocketed. What was new was not only the sheer quantity and ubiquity of this mass medium but the broad ideological spectrum newspapers reflected. At the same time theories dealing with the origin of man were charged with political, religious and social implications. Hence researchers and newspapers strongly interacted with each other (affirmative or critical) according to their ideological leanings e.g. with respect to the theory of evolution ¿ and not only in the nineteenth but well into the twentieth century as this special issue will try to demonstrate.
To retrace the trajectory of prehistoric research and print journalism in parallel is also crucial in order to understand how we learned to visualize our ancestors. The illustrated press did not only feature photos of excavations but more importantly reconstructions and caricatures of prehistoric creatures. These images did not only have a strong impact on the general public but also influenced prehistorians in the conception of their research objects. Just as prehistory deals with fossil skulls, hand-axes and cave paintings newspapers too have their own materiality that this special will reflect: the combination of text and images, the flow of information or the cutting out and collecting of articles. It is the ¿logic of the media¿, the constant vying for attention that shapes the reporting on discoveries and controversies. That is why this special issue focuses on scoops, scams and scuffles. Questions of authenticity (and debunking) were central both to the endeavours of the scholars and to the coverage of the newspapers.
2. Systematic: Newspapers and magazines do not simply report about prehistoric discoveries. The eight case studies of this special issue will show the sheer breadth of the different roles played by the press in the knowledge making process. Newspapers served prehistorians of all sorts to put forward their own (mostly contentious) interpretations. As a consequence mass media turned into an ¿extended battlefield¿ for controversies. The making, contesting and defending of claims in newspapers follow different rules in comparison with academic publications. They allow for more liberties and may also be instrumentalized in order to drum up financial or political support for excavations or to campaign for the professionalization of prehistory. A recurring theme of this special issue is the nationalist appropriation of fossils or rock art in print media. And finally, the focus on the daily press also brings to light the importance of actors outside academia: amateur scientists, local dignitaries, labourers and journalists.
All six articles will be brief in the presentation of the prehistoric discovery in case. Each one of them will focus on the characteristic interplay between prehistorians and the media and analyse different variants. The special issue will cover the period from the last third of the nineteenth century to the late twentieth century. It will include more nationally focused case studies on France, Spain, and Germany as well as case studies that reflect the inherent international dimension of prehistory.
En este artículo se estudia la relación epistolar que mantuvo el paleontólogo sabadellense Miquel Crusafont con dos personajes del mundo de la enseñanza, el padre jesuita Pedro Juan Azpeitia y el padre escolapio Francisco Cubells, durante los años 50. Por su posición estratégica como formadores de formadores, estos profesores religiosos se propusieron actuar como caballos de Troya del evolucionismo finalista-eísta de Crusafont: lo incorporaron en sus clases y en los planes docentes de su institución, refractaria a esas ideas, pudiendo jugar un papel clave en su diseminación, formulación y en una posterior aceptación del evolucionismo en general.
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ABSTRACT:
In this article it will be discussed the epistolary relationship between Sabadell paleontologist Miquel Crusafont and two characters from the education world, Jesuit Father Pedro Juan Azpeitia and Piarist Father Francisco Cubells, during the 50s. Due to their strategic position as trainers of trainers, these two religious teachers set out to act as Trojan horses for Crusafont’s finalistic-theistic evolutionism: they incorporated it into their classes and into the teaching plans of their institutions, which were refractory to those ideas. This way, they could have played a key role in the dissemination and formulation of this evolutionism and in a later acceptance of evolution in general.
que seguia la lògica de diferents veritats a diferents nivells (Florensa, 2017). El cas de Palomares n’és un exemple il·lustratiu: mentre diversos científics estaven visibilitzant el risc nuclear entre els seus fòrums elitistes i de circulació limitada (revistes científiques especialitzades, memòries i actes del CSIC), el fil de radiació nuclear era invisibilitzat al públic general. Seguint l’anàlisi d’Olga Kuchinskaya sobre l’accident de Txernòbil (Kuchinskaya, 2012; 2014), aquest article reflexionarà sobre la producció i propagació de la visibilitat versus la invisibilitat del risc de la radiació nuclear en el marc de la dictadura franquista.
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ABSTRACT: The purpose of this article is to contribute to the creation of a contextual, historical, political and cultural framework that will give us elements to reflect on, and perhaps better understand, the gestation, execution and reception of the book 'La Evolución'. The three editors and up to a third of its authors (approximately half of the contributions) belonged to, or collaborated with, a group of Catholic intellectuals of the Franco regime called Asociación Menéndez Pelayo. This association, founded in 1956, sought to bring together Catholic intellectuals from all fields in order to spread and promote a Catholic science in Spain. The group, heir to the cultural and political project of the traditional Catholic monarchists of the so-called Grupo Arbor (faction of the Franco's regime in internal struggle for power), achieved more than 200 partners among which there were rectors of at least 7 universities of the country, scientists, humanists and theologians of recognized prestige, as well as influential politicians and entrepreneurs. This association, which dominated crucial positions in the management of culture, had a special interest in creating a public discourse on science issues problematic for dogma – evolutionism among them-because the implementation of its cultural and political project depended on that. This article explores the links between La Evolución and this group of political-cultural pressure of the Franco's regime.
At an international level, the ideal of science intended for the New Spain clashed with the principles on which the Modern Synthesis of Evolution, or Neo-Darwinism, was being built. Neo-Darwinism rejected any transcendental explanation of the evolutionary process. The new current was being promoted with strength and resources from the United Kingdom and the United States. This thesis reveals the involvement of Spanish scientists in the construction of a scientifically based “Traditional Synthesis of Evolution” able to compete with Neo-Darwinism. The implantation of a Catholic science depended on the success of this alternative synthesis. And the Catholic science was part of the Catholic culture in which the ideologues of the Francois state had based the implantation of the new regime. In this sense, this thesis proposes that the scientists were also converted into ideologues of the Franco regime. Their discourses on science helped to build its foundations, legitimize it and perpetuate it.
The study of the public discourses leads to the focus on the Generation of ’48. This group, who were heirs and continuers of the traditional Catholic and monarchist Spanish thought, competed with other factions of the regime for cultural hegemony. Imposing their cultural project was considered a key step in achieving their political goals. The culture they advocated was, like that of all groups, a Catholic and unitary culture, in which all branches of knowledge were linked and united to the trunk of theology.
The peculiarity of the Generation of ’48 was that it tried to liberate culture of all past and present “heterodoxy” and to base it solely in the most “orthodox” tradition. This group tried to establish and disseminate a version of evolution coherent with its principles, free of all “heterodox” seeds: an “Evolution without problem” for Franco's Spain. This faction of the regime dominated strategic positions in the management of information and culture in Spain for much of the period covered in this thesis. Therefore, its discourses on evolution are the focus of this thesis. Through the initiatives to create its discourse, in which renowned Spanish scientists participated, this thesis has discovered a network that brought together the Generation of ’48 in a common endeavour beyond what the historiography had brought to light.
The “Traditional Synthesis of Evolution”, which was attempted and spread in Spain, however, was not the autarchic fruit of an isolated Franco regime. The research shows the connections and international collaborations of the project, and shows how Spain not only sought to be “the spiritual reserve of the West” but also “the scientific reserve of the West”. The Generation of ’48 was especially excited about this project, in which several renowned Spanish scientists played a crucial role.
1. Principal: the birth of the discipline of prehistory around 1850 coincides with a decisive transformation of the daily press. The print run and number of newspapers skyrocketed. What was new was not only the sheer quantity and ubiquity of this mass medium but the broad ideological spectrum newspapers reflected. At the same time theories dealing with the origin of man were charged with political, religious and social implications. Hence researchers and newspapers strongly interacted with each other (affirmative or critical) according to their ideological leanings e.g. with respect to the theory of evolution ¿ and not only in the nineteenth but well into the twentieth century as this special issue will try to demonstrate.
To retrace the trajectory of prehistoric research and print journalism in parallel is also crucial in order to understand how we learned to visualize our ancestors. The illustrated press did not only feature photos of excavations but more importantly reconstructions and caricatures of prehistoric creatures. These images did not only have a strong impact on the general public but also influenced prehistorians in the conception of their research objects. Just as prehistory deals with fossil skulls, hand-axes and cave paintings newspapers too have their own materiality that this special will reflect: the combination of text and images, the flow of information or the cutting out and collecting of articles. It is the ¿logic of the media¿, the constant vying for attention that shapes the reporting on discoveries and controversies. That is why this special issue focuses on scoops, scams and scuffles. Questions of authenticity (and debunking) were central both to the endeavours of the scholars and to the coverage of the newspapers.
2. Systematic: Newspapers and magazines do not simply report about prehistoric discoveries. The eight case studies of this special issue will show the sheer breadth of the different roles played by the press in the knowledge making process. Newspapers served prehistorians of all sorts to put forward their own (mostly contentious) interpretations. As a consequence mass media turned into an ¿extended battlefield¿ for controversies. The making, contesting and defending of claims in newspapers follow different rules in comparison with academic publications. They allow for more liberties and may also be instrumentalized in order to drum up financial or political support for excavations or to campaign for the professionalization of prehistory. A recurring theme of this special issue is the nationalist appropriation of fossils or rock art in print media. And finally, the focus on the daily press also brings to light the importance of actors outside academia: amateur scientists, local dignitaries, labourers and journalists.
All six articles will be brief in the presentation of the prehistoric discovery in case. Each one of them will focus on the characteristic interplay between prehistorians and the media and analyse different variants. The special issue will cover the period from the last third of the nineteenth century to the late twentieth century. It will include more nationally focused case studies on France, Spain, and Germany as well as case studies that reflect the inherent international dimension of prehistory.
En este artículo se estudia la relación epistolar que mantuvo el paleontólogo sabadellense Miquel Crusafont con dos personajes del mundo de la enseñanza, el padre jesuita Pedro Juan Azpeitia y el padre escolapio Francisco Cubells, durante los años 50. Por su posición estratégica como formadores de formadores, estos profesores religiosos se propusieron actuar como caballos de Troya del evolucionismo finalista-eísta de Crusafont: lo incorporaron en sus clases y en los planes docentes de su institución, refractaria a esas ideas, pudiendo jugar un papel clave en su diseminación, formulación y en una posterior aceptación del evolucionismo en general.
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ABSTRACT:
In this article it will be discussed the epistolary relationship between Sabadell paleontologist Miquel Crusafont and two characters from the education world, Jesuit Father Pedro Juan Azpeitia and Piarist Father Francisco Cubells, during the 50s. Due to their strategic position as trainers of trainers, these two religious teachers set out to act as Trojan horses for Crusafont’s finalistic-theistic evolutionism: they incorporated it into their classes and into the teaching plans of their institutions, which were refractory to those ideas. This way, they could have played a key role in the dissemination and formulation of this evolutionism and in a later acceptance of evolution in general.
En España, la respuesta pública oficial al accidente fue una campaña de comunicación que trabajó para invisibilizar el riesgo de contaminación radiactiva en la zona. La prensa local mostraba confianza total en los soldados estadounidenses que limpiaban la zona y apenas hablaba de radiación. Pero la alegada naturaleza inofensiva del accidente era difícil de conciliar con el despliegue que el ejército estadounidense había establecido en Palomares y que la prensa francesa describía: 800 militares estadounidenses acampados, una flota de 20 barcos y 2.000 marines y filas de soldados rastreando el área completamente equipados para maniobras nucleares (Le Monde, 1966). Gran parte de la cosecha fue incinerada, hubo restricción de cultivo y prohibición de pescar en el mar. Los vecinos dejaron de poder vender sus productos de la huerta y ganaderos ya que los clientes habituales rehusaban comprarlos. Hasta la Guardia Civil de Palomares dejó de comprar sus cinco litros diarios de leche al productor local (ABP, 1966a). La información que circulaba en la prensa española chocaba, pues, con la que circulaba en medios extranjeros como el diario francés Le Monde, medios clandestinos, como Radio Moscú, Radio España Independiente, Le socialiste o hasta el The New York Times. De hecho, y a pesar de la política de “no comment” del Pentágono, la primicia de que se trataba de un accidente nuclear se filtró a través de éste último diario (Moreno Izquierdo, 2016: 230).
Varios autores han destacado que la invisibilidad, la duda o la ignorancia no son estados naturales de la población, simples ausencias de información o conocimiento, sino el resultado de procesos culturales y políticos activos y que requieren esfuerzo (Kuchinskaya, 2012, 2014; Markowitz & Rosner, 2002; Mooney, 2006; Oreskes & Conway, 2010; Proctor, 1995; Proctor & Schiebinger, 2008). Además, la dificultad de establecer un amplio consenso de causalidad entre la contaminación y los efectos sobre la población afectada y la invisibilidad de las partículas contaminantes hace que este tipo de accidentes sean especialmente propicios a los procesos de invisibilización (Kuchinskaya, 2014). Como procesos culturales y políticos, es lógico pensar que estos procesos de invisibilización reflejen o se vean afectados por los cambios en la cultura y la política como los que ocurrieron en España debido a las nuevas relaciones con EE UU a partir de los pactos de 1953. Este artículo sugiere que el estilo de la campaña pública de información sobre el accidente de Palomares respondía a la naturaleza de la relación entre estos dos países y estaba acorde con los cambios que esta relación estaba comportando en España. El análisis de la campaña mediática que se hizo alrededor del caso de Palomares muestra facetas y caminos de implantación de la "hegemonía" norteamericana: el caso palomares adoptó estrategias de invisibilización del riesgo radiactivo propias de las campañas publicitarias de las empresas tabacaleras americanas, y generó nuevas con la evocación de un imaginario creado por las industrias publicitaria y cinematográfica estadounidenses, ya introducidas en el país.
La obra analiza las consecuencias del accidente y cómo las personas afectadas se convirtieron hasta hoy en ciudadanos de segunda clase para los dos países implicados. Palomares sigue teniendo cerca de 41 hectáreas contaminadas con plutonio y americio, a la espera de una descontaminación que no llega. El accidente continúa siendo uno de los sucesos más oscuros y desconocidos de la dictadura, plagado de falsos mitos y leyendas y muchas cosas que ocultar. La desclasificación de parte de la documentación en estos últimos años permite cuestionar la historia oficial, sostenida indistintamente, sin apenas matices, en dictadura y en democracia. Palomares es una historia abierta, enquistada durante más de medio siglo, un asunto por resolver.
El libro se estructura en una serie de entrevistas realizadas por el profesor Salvador López Arnal a José Herrera Plaza, firmantes de la obra. Además de los autores, participarán en la presentación los investigadores del CEHIC Clara Florensa y Xavier Roqué. También se proyectarán unos minutos del documental Operación Flecha Rota e imágenes históricas del accidente con montaje a cargo de José Herrera.
La presentación forma parte del ciclo de Seminarios del Centro de Historia de la Ciencia y está organizado por Xavier Roqué y Clara Florensa.
SPANISH: "Las mujeres han encontrado a lo largo de la historia una serie de obstáculos para dedicarse al mundo de la ciencia, pero muchas han contribuido a ella y la han apoyado de maneras muy diversas. En su trabajo para dar la visibilidad que se merecen a estas mujeres, el grupo "Género, Ciencia y Enseñanza de las Ciencias" (GCEC) de la UAB ha llevado al escenario la obra "Conversaciones sobre química", uno de los muchos libros de divulgación de las ciencias que escribió Jane Marcet en el siglo XIX."
Link to the video:
- in UABDivulga:
http://www.uab.cat/web/science-in-images-1096482381829.html?pagename=UABDivulga%2FPage%2FTemplatePageLlistatVideos&cid=1096482381829&tesauro=1096482433084
- in youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWzIp4t22Sw
Link to the video:
http://www.uab.cat/web/science-in-images-1096482381829.html?param1=4#
Link to YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtpIXqqpJWg
Women have always been involved in science. But what about their presence in history, in institutions and in the public sphere of science? We talk about women's situations in science, now and in the past, with Patricia Fara, science historian at Cambridge University and expert on women in science and science in the Enlightenment. Among many other books, she has written Pandora’s breeches: women, science and powerand Sex, botany and empire: the stories of Carl Linnaeus and Joseph Banks. She was invited to the UAB by the Centre for the History of Science (CEHIC) where she discussed the participation of women in science from a historical perspective in a lecture called "Ghosts of Women Past", and we took the opportunity of interviewing her."
Simon Schaffer, University of Cambridge, is one of the architects of the profound changes the history of science has undergone in the past 30 years. His studies have contributed to understanding the processes by which consensus in scientific knowledge is reached and to prove that they involve aspects that go beyond strictly scientific circles. The book he wrote along with Steven Shapin, "Leviathan and the Air-Pump: Hobbes, Boyle and the Experimental Life" gave him international exposure and spread his new approach in the way of doing history of science, from the viewpoint of the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge. Professor Schaffer visited us on the occasion of the presentation of two seminars organised by CEHIC (Center for History of Science at UAB). UABDivulga took the opportunity to interview him and ask about this new approach that has renewed in depth the history of science as well as the understanding of scientific knowledge."
The history of science once tend to the study of texts while forgetting about the pictures. But scientific practice produces a wide variety of visual representations and their study provides an excellent basis for understanding the formation of scientific knowledge. This was the theme of the 6th. European Spring School on History of Science and Popularization in Mahon, organized, among others, by the Centre for the History of Science at the UAB (CEHIC). Nick Hopwood, senior lecturer in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge and an expert on visual representations in science, was invited there, and we interviewed him."
Peter Bowler visited Barcelona to talk about the making of the textbook "Making Modern Science: A Historical Survey" (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005) written in collaboration with Iwan Morus. Before his talk for the series "Communicating Science: Pleasures and Pitfalls of Historical Narrative", Clara Florensa interviewed him in “La Granja de Gavà”, Barcelona.
The need to invest in renewable energy is a fact. The consumption of fossil fuels is a million of times faster than the rate of natural production. Hydrogen is one of the candidates as a renewable energy carrier in the future: its energy density is three times greater than that of fossil fuels and it exists in large quantities in nature (water being the main source). The challenge is, however, to store it in an energy efficient and compact way. Andreas Züttel, head of the “Hydrogen & Energy” Division at Swiss Federal Laboratories for materials Science and Tecnology (EMPA), and president of the Swiss Association for Hydrogen “HYDROPOLE”, participated in the "International Symposium on Energy, Environment and Sustainability", organized at the UAB in occasion of the tenth anniversary of MATGAS, where UABDivulga had the chance to interview him.
During the symposium, students will be able to present their work, either as a poster or oral presentation. The official language of the event is English. Several workshops will be held on subjects of specific interests to the PhD students and several lectures of general interests for Biomedicine students will be given by renowned speakers.
ROUND TABLE: Science and society
The terms science and society usually go hand in hand; they should be ideally regarded, in fact, as an indissociable duo. However, we all know that the distance between scientists and the rest of the population has increased in the last years, maybe due to a progressive professionalization and access-restriction to scientific knowledge.
We’d like to analyse the current relationship between science and society and related questions, from the impact of fake news and pseudoscience to the potential role of initiatives based on open science and citizen science movements.
We’ll discuss these issues with ta group of experts from different scientific sectors
Link: https://ubbiomedphdday.wixsite.com/website
Dia: Dimecres 24 de maig de 2017, a les 16:00 hores
Lloc: Sala de Juntes de la Facultat de Filosofia i Lletress de la UAB
Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoaC7-cHf-qBhTAgd4IsmfA
El cicle d’entrevistes FEM ciència analitza la relació entre el gènere i la ciència al llarg de la història.
Amb motiu del Dia Internacional de la Dona i la Nena en la Ciència, l'11 de febrer de 2021, la Societat Catalana d’Història de la Ciència i de la Tècnica impulsà FEM ciència. El projecte consisteix en una sèrie d’entrevistes a historiadores de la ciència que ens exposen les seves reflexions sobre com el gènere ha influït i influeix en el progrés científic i com afecta en l'àmbit laboral i personal de les dones.