A Matter of Theory. Public Lectures and the Reception of Science in Argentina (1800–1930)

Abstract

In Argentina, an ambiguously peripheral space from the point of view of scientific culture, the theories of the natural and exact sciences were received simultaneously (and in part contradictorily) by a micro-universe of experts with access to specialized publications and by the general public through public lectures or texts with some kind of didactic or esthetical intention. This is the case of Copernican theory, Darwin’s evolutionary theory and Einstein’s theory of relativity. One of the formats through which these theories reached a wide audience were public lectures pronounced by prominent cultural actors. These interpreters sought to legitimatize personal interests, political programs or ideologies articulating the prestige and social authority of science with a deployment of rhetorical resources. In this paper I discuss three historically significant cases, in each of which the above mentioned theories played a prominent role: Pedro Cerviño’s «Academic Exordium» (January 1806), Sarmiento’s lecture on occasion of Darwin’s «Civic Funeral» (20 May 1882) and Lugones’ «The Size of Space» (14 August 1920).