HISTORIC INSTRUMENTS FOR THE TEACHING OF PHYSICS: a chronology of the situation in Argentina

M. C. VON REICHENBACH

Rio de Janiero

Seminario; III Seminário Internacional Cultura Material e Patrimônio de Ciência e Tecnologia (IIISPCT); 2014

Museu de Astronomia e Ciências Afins

The introduction of scientific disciplines in Latin America was deeply influenced by the acquisition of scientific instruments, especially in the experimental sciences. These tools constituted a key in the workings of the teaching scenario aimed at the preparation of a critical mass of young students required to carry out scientific research in the New World. The aim of this treatment is to describe this process in Argentina, especially with respect to the instruments devoted to the teaching of physics. The background investigation for this chronology was executed in the attempt to discover what instruments were bought and when and for what purposes they were purchased. I present here a brief review based on written historical records concerning the first didactic scientific instruments used in the country and, in particular, the history of the collection belonging to the Physics Museum of the La Plata National University.