ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

Amateur Naturalists and Astronomical Observers: Citizen Participation in Portuguese Science in the 19th and 20th Centuries

• In Event: Citizen Science in a Global Perspective

English Abstract

This paper explores diverse forms of amateur participation in Portuguese science from the 19th to the first half of the 20th century, with a focus on natural history and astronomy. By situating these practices within a country often regarded as peripheral to Europe’s main scientific centres, the paper shows how social position, institutional affiliation, and claims to scientific authority shaped the visibility, and frequent invisibility, of those working outside professional scientific institutions.
In natural history, the contributions of amateur naturalists demonstrate a world of scientific practice that operated in parallel with, and often intertwined with, professional institutions. Through personal initiatives, correspondence networks, and the circulation of specimens, these amateurs enriched museum and herbarium collections and contributed to taxonomic work. Their activities also reveal alternative modes of participation, including the significant but often overlooked involvement of women in observation and classification. Similarly, aristocratic collectors combined leisure, curiosity, and patronage, creating spaces where scientific authority was negotiated through social status and material resources, sometimes with contributions from aristocratic women.
The paper also revisits the 1900 solar eclipse as a striking instance of public engagement with astronomy in Portugal, involving both men and women. The publication of an explanatory booklet by the director of the Lisbon Astronomical Observatory, his collaboration with the press, and his efforts to assemble a nationwide network of correspondents positioned him as a central figure in coordinating and amplifying public participation in scientific observation.
Taken together, these cases show how Portuguese amateur science embodied historical forms of interdependence between professional and lay knowledge. They offer valuable perspectives for contemporary discussions on inclusive and participatory approaches within science, especially in contexts commonly labelled as peripheral.

Authors

• Cristina Luis, CIUHCT, NOVA School of Science and Technology, NOVA University Lisbon

• António Gouveia, University of Coimbra

• Luís Carolino, ISCTE-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, CIES

• Ana Simões, Universidade de Lisboa