Arte e ciência no século XIX: um estudo em torno da descoberta da fotografia no Brasil

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between art and science in the discovery of photography. It concerns an original photographic process created by the Frenchman Hercule Florence in the 19th century Brazil, simultaneously and independently from other processes developed with the same aim mostly in Europe. A detailed reconstruction of this process is performed by directly investigating his manuscripts and other original documents of the period. Combining elements from the Mertonian theory of discovery and science studies, I argue that the local peripheral circumstances are embodied in the final form of Florence’s process: a photographic process without a camera obscura.