v.15, n.1, p.73-94, jan.-mar. 2008 5 7 3
v.17, n.3, jul.-set. 2010, p.573-574 5 7 3
EDITOR`S NOTE
Dear readers,
Th is past August, th e Oswaldo Cruz Foun dation h osted a sym posium in com m em oration of th e th irtieth an n iversary of th e worldwide eradication of sm allp ox, an u n p receden ted accom plish m en t an n oun ced at th e World Health Assem bly on May 8, 1979.
Th e sym p o siu m b ro u gh t a n u m b er o f p ro t ago n ist s fro m t h e Sm allp o x Erad icat io n Program togeth er to discu ss th eir exp erien ces as well as an y lesson s th ey h ad learn ed th at co u ld b e ap p lied t o co m b at in g o t h er d iseases. Th is issu e o f História, Ciências, Saúde – Manguinhos featu res Gilberto Hoch m an an d Steven Palm er’s exclu sive in terview with Dr. Don ald A. Hen d erson , d irector of th e World Health Organ ization ’s cam p aign from 1966 th rou gh 1977. We also brin g you excerp ts from a travel diary written by an oth er cam p aign p articip an t, Robert J. W ilson , a Can adian wh o kep t n otes on h is Ap ril 1967 trip to Brazil. Palm er, Ho ch m an , an d Arbex’s an alysis o f t h is d o cu m en t al so u rce lead s t o in t erest in g reflection s on th e cam p aign in Brazil, th e vaccin es u sed h ere, an d th e role p layed by exp ert com m u n ities in th is in tern ation al en d eavor.
Ou r An alysis section op en s with a fascin atin g article by An dré Lu is de Lim a Carvalh o an d Ricardo Waizbort abou t a figu re n ot well kn own to u s h ere in Brazil: Fran ces Power Cobbe, wh o earn ed ren own in Victorian En glan d as a social m ilitan t. Con cern s abou t th e eth ical legitim acy of certain u ses of an im als fell on esp ecially fertile grou n d in th at cou n try, wh ich in 1822 h ad p assed a law establish in g p en alties for th e m istreatm en t of an im als. An dré an d Ricardo’s article focu ses p rim arily on clash es between Cobbe an d Ch arles Darwin over th e u se of an im als in scien tific exp erim en ts. W h at lies at th e cru x of th is article is th e relation between h u m an s an d n on -h u m an s, between scien ce an d n atu re, wh ich brin gs u s t o t wo o t h er art icles t h at exam in e n at u re fro m d ifferen t an gles. In o n e o f t h ese, t wo geograp h ers from Cam p in as State Un iversity (Un icam p ) exp lore Alexan der von Hu m boldt’s n otion s on th e top ic an d h is relation to th e gen esis of m odern p h ysical geograp h y. An ton io C arlo s Vit t e, p h ilo so p h er, an d Ro b eriso n W it t gen st ein Dias d a Silveira, a h yb rid o f agron om ist, sociologist, an d an th rop ologist, address “p ostm odern an tin om ies on n atu re.” As th ese au th ors see it, Hu m bold t d evelop ed a n ew in terp retation of n atu re on Earth ’s su rface, wh ere th e con cep ts of sp ace an d geograp h ic lan dscap e were essen tial, u n derp in n ed by a co m p lex in t erweavin g o f aest h et ic an d in st ru m en t al in flu en ces. Mo d ern p h ysical geograp h y, th ey argu e, was essen tially bu ilt u p on th e th in kin g exp ressed by Hu m boldt in h is V iews of nature an d Cosm os. For th e au th ors, th e latter book offers cu rren t geograp h ic kn o w led ge a scien t ific an d p h ilo so p h ical an sw er t o t h e p h ysical geo grap h y/ h u m an geograp h y du ality an d th u s resp on ds to ou r con tem p orary n eed to tran scen d th e con fin ed bord ers of form al d iscip lin es.
José Marcos Froeh lich an d Celso Ren i Braida an alyze th e n otion s of n atu re u n derlyin g ou r cu rren t con cep tion of scien ce. After p resen tin g a brief in ven tory of th e ideas en tertain ed abou t th is p olysem ic con cep t at differen t p oin ts in h istory, th e au th ors draw ou r atten tion to cu rren t in con sisten cies in p ostm odern im ages of n atu re, relyin g p rim arily on th e th in kin g of Fredric Jam eson , on e of th e few Marxists wh o u sed p ostm odern lan gu age in a m aterialistic an alysis of th e cu ltu ral logic of p ostm odern ity in th e 1990s.
5 7 4 História, Ciências, Saúde – Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro an d both of th em lose th em selves in a n ew kin d of global. Paradoxically, th e disap p earan ce of n atu re in its trad ition al form fosters th e retu rn of an oth er typ e of n atu re, as variou s p h en o m en a relat ed t o eco lo gism bear wit n ess. Th is revival co n st it u t es a fo u n d at io n al a n t in o m y o f p o st m o d ern it y, o n e t h a t , fo r t h e a u t h o rs o f t h is a rt icle, st em s fro m con tradiction s th at ru n deep er th an th e distin ction between social an d n atu ral or between cu lt u re an d n at u re. Th e au t h o rs t h u s p ro p o se t h at we m o ve t o ward s a co n cep t io n o f n atu re an d scien ce th at does n ot req u ire u s to fash ion h u m an bein gs in to stran gers in th e world th ey in h abit an d seek to u n d erstan d .
Ou r readers will also fin d th ree con tribu tion s by Argen tin ean au th ors in th is issu e of História, Ciências, Saúde – Manguinhos. Diego P. Roldán , of Rosario Nation al Un iversity, an alyzes discourses on th e body, m ach in es, en ergy, an d fatigue at th e turn of th e n in eteen th to th e twen tieth cen tu ry an d sh ows h ow th ey h elped to con stru ct a bio-political u n derstan din g th at placed th e body in a relation sh ip with capitalist production an d th e State.
Lu cía Rom ero an alyzes th e academ ic m odern ization of th e Un iversity of Bu en os Aires an d its Facu lty of Med icin e in th e m id -1950s, with a focu s on th e id eas abou t clin ical research , teach in g, an d h ealth care esp ou sed by Alfred o Lan ari at th e First Con gress on Medical Edu cation , h eld by th e Argen tin ean Medical Association in 1957. Th e establish m en t of th e La Plata Observatory (1882-1890) is th e top ic of Marin a Riezn ik, of th e Un iversity of Bu en o s Aires, wh o st u d ied t h e even t fro m t h e co n t ext o f co n flict s su rro u n d in g t h e in tern ation al m ission s th at observed th e tran sit of Ven u s across th e su n , with th e m ain actors bein g th e d irector of th e Córd oba O bservatory, th e govern or of th e p rovin ce of Bu en os Aires, an d m em bers of Fran ce’s Bu reau of Lon gitu des.
Lean dro Belin aso Gu im arães, of th e Federal Un iversity of San ta Catarin a, looks at h ow th e d iscu rsive, social, an d p olitical p rocesses th at n ation alized th e Am azon gain ed firm fo o t in g u n d er Brazil’s First Rep u b lic. Usin g t ex t s p en n ed b y Eu clid es d a C u n h a, h e d em on strates th at th e forest was viewed an d n arrated d ifferen tly d u rin g th at p eriod , as com p ared with th e travel accou n ts written by n atu ralists d own th rou gh th e n in eteen th cen tu ry. Valéria Zan etti an d h er collaborators at th e Vale d o Paraíba Un iversity an d São José dos Cam p os Pro-Mem ory Research Grou p describe h ow th is city was tran sform ed in to a h ealth resort for th e treatm en t of p u lm on ary tu bercu losis in th e 1930s. Relyin g p rin cip ally on Boletim Médico – a p eriodical p u blish ed by local tu bercu losis sp ecialists – an d on related sou rces as well, th ey exp lain h ow th is n ew statu s of “h ealth resort” was a th reat to th e local p op u lation yet also becam e th e drivin g force beh in d th e local econ om y, wh ich u n til th e 1950s was based alm ost solely on th e treatm en t of tu bercu losis.
Flavio Co elh o Ed ler, o f t h e Casa d e O swald o Cru z, is t h e au t h o r o f “Clin ical an d ex p erim en t al research in n in et een t h -cen t u ry Brazil: t h e circu lat io n an d co n t ro l o f kn owledge in m edical h elm in th ology.” He exam in es h ow Brazilian p h ysician s con tribu ted to ou r u n derstan din g of diseases cau sed by p arasitic worm s du rin g th e secon d h alf of th e n in eteen th cen tu ry an d sh ows h ow th is kn owledge h ad differin g im p acts on th ree ep istem ic com m u n ities: Brazilian clin ical an atom y, Fren ch m ed ical geograp h y, an d th e em ergin g field of m edical p arasitology. Ackn owledgin g th at th ese th ree tradition s u sed h eterogen eou s ap p roach es in legitim izin g scien tific facts as well as h eterogen eou s ep istem ological p ractices, Edler ch arts m edical kn owledge of th at day an d reveals th e force lin es p resen t with in th ese th ree d iscip lin es.
Th e lim ited sp ace of an editor’s n ote keep s m e from tellin g you abou t th e oth er im p ortan t articles you will fin d in th e followin g p ages. For th ose of you in sou th ern h em isp h eric clim es, fill you r lu n gs with th e fresh air of sp rin gtim e n ow u p on u s. We’re on th e eve of p residen tial election s in Brazil an d desp ite a rath er sordid cam p aign , we h op e th e ideals of ch an ge will blossom in th e collective h earts an d sou ls of u s all.
