Abstract

RAMIREZ-ERRAZURIZ, Verónica  and  LEYTON-ALVARADO, Patricio. Benjamin Vicuña Mackenna and Science: Defender of Popular Astronomy in Chile at the end of the 19^th Century. Hist. Soc. [online]. 2020, n.38, pp.71-102. ISSN 0121-8417.  https://doi.org/10.15446/hys.n38.79949.

Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna was a prolific writer and collaborator of the Chilean press during the second half of the 19th century, and within this task he devoted several pages to scientific issues. This paper analyzes his texts dedicated to astronomical knowledge, many of them which had not been specifically studied before. The hypothesis seeks to demonstrate that Vicuña Mackenna's main purpose, when talking about astronomy in the press, was to defend the popularization of this science, as well as other scientific disciplines. The perspective of this analysis considers the works of James Secord and Agusti Nieto-Galan, who affirm that science should not only be conceived as a practice in which formal institutions participate, but also diverse groups that make up society, the "publics" of science being relevant as active agents in the generation of knowledge.

Keywords : Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna; astronomy; popularization of science; Chile; 19^th century.

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