A história da ciência brasileira na revista Ciência Hoje: aspectos historiográficos e da natureza da ciência e suas implicações ao ensino de ciências

Abstract

Education is widely recorded, such as humanizing science, fostering a richer understanding of scientific concepts, and promoting the understanding of the social and historical process of collective and gradual construction of scientific knowledge. However, the proposed and/or implemented historical episodes are mostly focused on international science, without addressing the History of Brazilian Science (HBC). Furthermore, the integration of historical episodes in teaching is permeated by difficulties, especially the lack of historiographical works suitable for the school environment. Thus, it is essential to analyze scientific dissemination materials in relation to their potentialities and limitations, regarding historiographical aspects and the Nature of Science (NOS), so that they can be used as appropriate teaching resources for the implementation of the History and Nature of Science in teaching. Thus, the objective of this research is to analyze the scientific popularization texts (SPT) of the Ciência Hoje (CH) magazine that deal with the HBC, with an investigative focus on historiographical aspects and the NOS. To this end, SPT published in CH between 1982 and 1992 and between 2006 and 2016 were selected, totaling thirteen texts, by searching for the key terms “History”, “Science”, “Brazil”, “Brazilian” and “National” in the digital editions of the journal. To analyze the documentary corpus, Discursive Textual Analysis was performed, which allowed the construction of three central categories that were divided into some more specific subcategories. In view of the above, it is verified that there is SPT on the History of Brazilian Science in CH, and that these present adequate historiographical aspects, such as the diachronic interpretation and the detailed approach of the historical episode, and inadequate ones, such as the anachronistic interpretation and the panoramic approach of the episode, according to the historiography of science. At the same time, these texts also convey views of the NOS that are considered both adequate, such as the conception of science as influenced by external factors and of the scientist as a person integrated into society, and inadequate, such as the conception that science is constructed by geniuses through the mechanical application of an infallible method. Thus, these SPT can be adequate teaching resources for the implementation of HC, if they are complemented and applied critically.