Civil engineering in nineteenth-century Brazil

technological Discussion about the Paraguayan War in the Journal of the Instituto Politécnico Brasileiro

  • Pedro Eduardo Mesquita de Monteiro Marinho Doutor em História pela Universidade Federal Fluminense. Pesquisador titular da Coordenação de História da Ciência do Museu de Astronomia e Ciências Afins e professor do Programa de Pós-Graduação em História da Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro.
  • Laura Roberta Fontana Mestre em História Social pela Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro e pesquisadora pelo Programa de Capacitação Institucional no Museu de Astronomia e Ciências Afins – Rio de Janeiro.
Keywords: Paraguayan War, Civil Engineering in nineteenth-century, Instituto Politécnico Brasileiro

Abstract

This article aims to reflect on the distinction between the Military Engineering and Civil Engineering in nineteenth-century Brazil, from the creation of the Central School in Rio de Janeiro and the Brazilian Polytechnic Institute, which is a fundamental space for technological discussion about the War Paraguay. We will work more specifically with one of the memories published in the Journal of the Brazilian Polytechnic Institute, which aims to present the use of torpedoes by Paraguay during the war and how these “submarine infernal machines” were a challenge for the Brazilian naval force. We intend to show how the IPB was a key spacenot just for the professionalization of Civil Engineering in Brazil, but also to technological debates of the period, and as experience in the Paraguayan War was present in these debates.

Published
2020-06-16
Issue
Vol 11 No 22 (2015): Revista Navigator - Dossiê 150 anos da Batalha Naval do Riachuelo: reflexões e abordagens sobre a Guerra da Tríplice Aliança - II
Section
Dossie