Hist Cienc Saude Manguinhos. 2007 Jan-Mar;14(1):285-323.
[The 1755 Lisbon earthquake: collections of eighteenth-century texts].
[Article in Portuguese]
Amador F1.
Abstract
This study describes three collections of texts published in the years following the 1755 earthquake in Lisbon.
Housed at archives and libraries in Portugal, the texts represent a
variety of literary genres and strategies of argumentation. Here they
have been analyzed according to pre-established categories. They were
written during a time of transition characterized by ideological
hesitations and by an eclecticism of conservative bent, a time when the
latest experimentalist currents coexisted alongside attempts to
reconcile scholastic Aristotelianism and experimentalism. The study
focuses on a narrower set of texts, of special interest to the history
of science; these can be classified into one of two topics: (i) physical
explanations for the earth tremors and (ii) hygienist concerns about
this type of natural disaster.
