Sobre o papel de Portugal nas etapas preliminares da revolução científica do séc. XVII

J. P. PEIXOTO • J. V. GONQALVES • A. A. MARQUES DE ALMEIDA • J. T.

OLIVEIRA • J. P. OSORIO • R. CARVALHO • L. ALBUQUERQUE • R. RODlUGUES

J. V. GOMES FERREIRA • F. D. SANTOS • A. J. ANDRADE DE GOUVEIA • A. M. AMORIM DA COSTA • B. J. HEROLD • JOAO L. L. C. OLIVEIRA CABRAL • J. A. LEITAO • N. GRANDE • J. C. DA COSTA • A. RODRIGUES • A. TORRES PEREIRA • B. FERNA.JI1DES • J. M. GIAO T. RICO • MILLER GUERRA • M. POR· TUGAL V. FERREIRA • J. M. COTELO NEIVA • A. RIBEIRO • M. TELLES ANTUNES F. C. GUERRA • A. CORRElA ALVES • F. CASTELO·BRANCO • A. FERNANDES A. R. PINTO DA SILVA • C. M. L. BAETA NEVES • A. X. CUNHA • A. C. QUINTELA SUZANNE DAVEAU • ORLANDO RIBEIRO • J. E. MENDES FERRAO • ILfmo A.'1'ARAL • O. TEOTONIO DE ALMEIDA • F. GUERRA • ALLEN G. DEBUS A. IRlA • F. R. DlAS AGUDO M. JACL."lTO NUNES WILLIAM R. SHEA •

EITSTORlA E DESENVOLVIMENTO

DA

CI~NCIA

EM PORTUGAL

I COL6QUIO-ate ao Seculo XX LISBOA, 15 a 19 de Abril de 1985

II VOLUME

t.ICACOES DO II CENTENARIO DA ACADEMIA DAS CI:E.NCIAS DE LISBOA

LISBOA • MCMLXXXVI

SOBRE 0 PAPEL DE PORTUGAL

NAS ETAPAS PRELIMINARES

DA REVOLUCAO CIENTiFICA DO SECULO XVII

ON:BSIMO TEOTONIO ALMEIDA *

SUMMARY The present essay will take a critical look at three theses of Professor Joaquim Barradas de Carvalho and will raise some questions regarding his conclusion that an epistemological pre-rupture took place in Portugal, with figures from our litera­ ture of the. disoov~es, such as Duarte Pacheco Pereira, Pedro Nunes, nom roao de Castro and Garcia de Orta. Such pre-rupture supposedly took place in three frOD!ts - in the adoption of the concept of experience as fundamental for the criteria of truth; in the mathematization of reality; and in the dichotomy estabH&hed between science and humanism. In the course of ilhe prerent analysis, the deficiencies of Barradas de Carvalho's conclusions will be pointed out and the important role of ·the Portuguese will be shown in a more proper perspective against tihe vaster and more complex backgrOUlld of coIlltlinuitiesand mscontinuities, parallel discoveries and paradoxical beliefs, typical of the way science makes its history. . IhtheC6n~t of the more universal debate about scientific revolutions, this essaywm'fl'i a sketch of a more elaborate case study which will aim art: showing how ·lthe scienti£i.c. activities carried out in Portugal in the XV-I century raise questions I'ji!l~is:qggel'ct modifjcations in the. Kulmian• vJew, nan;lely the necessilby of stressip,g :Gh~;~paciq4ymporal dispersioll of 'the ~tages .ood nonnecessary conti­ nuity of the evoiuti~ process ·of the paradigmatic revolUJtiion. 1[ j(i C,' , " ;:, ( ',' ;. '. , " ,--: ' ~"';

*

Brown University.

1174

ONESIMO TEOT6NIO ALMEIDA

•

o p3lpel de Portugal na revolu