ELEMENTS FOR A SOCIAL HISTORY OF THE SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTION IN BRAZIL

Abstract

The article presents a work proposal in a field which is relatively new in Brazil. It is intended to be basically a text for discussion, without any pretension of accounting for all the questions it presents, but only to produce some interest and dialogue from other students. With this purpose in mind, the article debates in succession the following themes: (a) the concept of science as social product; (b) the historical origins of scientific research in Brazil; and (c) the main conditioning factors of its evolution through time.