Abstract

VEGA Y ORTEGA BAEZ, Rodrigo Antonio. Botanical explorations in the Bulletin of the National Academy of Sciences (Córdoba, Argentina, 1874-1887). Rev. hist. Am. [online]. 2019, n.157, pp.129-162.  Epub Feb 28, 2022. ISSN 2663-371X.  https://doi.org/10.35424/rha.157.2019.73.

The objective of the research is to describe the development of botanical explorations organized by the National Academy of Sciences in the period 1874-1887 through the Bulletin of the National Academy of Sciences in three aspects: the purposes of the explorers in the framework of the Argentine government's interest in natural resources; the relationship between academics and the different local informants about the flora; and the different scientific results. The conclusions show that between 1870 and 1887 the Academy was an important institution for the beginning of the scientific prospecting of Argentine flora through foreign and national academics, an issue that generated the bases for a greater understanding of the national vegetation, its comparison with other floras of the world and their economic use. For the appreciation of Botany as a useful science to the Argentine State, academics linked their scientific projects with government interests for the appropriation of plant resources taking advantage of local knowledge about the flora, an issue that materialized in listings, tables, tables, collections and specialized books. The originality of the article lies in the analysis of the set of botanical explorations in Argentina through the bulletin in the foundational years of the Academy, since historiography has been overlooked in this publication and its relationship with the history of the national Botany. The source of the research consists of the reports of five academics, both foreign and national: Georg Hieronymus, Paul Günther Lorentz, Ludwig Brackebusch, Fritz Kurtz y Eduardo L. Holmberg.

Keywords : Botany; academy; press; Argentina; exploration; science.