Symbolism, solitude and modernity: science and scientists in porfirian Mexico / Simbolismo, solidão e modernidade: ciência e cientistas no México porfiriano

The quest of Mexico for a distinctive national identity throughout the 19th century reached a climax during the period known as the Porfiriato, one of the principal features of which was the deep desire of Porfirio Díaz and his circle to turn Mexico into a 'modern' country perhaps without a clear definition of the meaning of this concept. The debate about national identity had addressed such issues as the rejection of indigenous cultures, blind passion for French culture, and how to go about criating a modern nation by means of industrialization and scientific modernization. The concept of nation in Mexico is definitively linked with the search for a national 'I', and with the struggle to overcome the solitude identified by Octavio Paz. Paradoxically, this very quest forms a part of this identity, and it seems to remain inconclusive.

Ao longo do século XIX, a tentativa de construir uma identidade nacional para o México atingiu seu ápice no período conhecido como Porfiriato, que teve como uma das principais características o desejo profundo de Porfírio Díaz e seu grupo de transformar o país em uma nação moderna, sem ter uma definição clara do significado desse conceito. O debate sobre identidade nacional tinha enfrentado questões como a negação de culturas indígenas; a paixão cega pela cultura francesa e todo um savoir faire diante do esforço de se criar uma nação moderna através da industrialização e da modernização científica. O conceito de nação, no México, é estreitamente vinculado à busca pelo 'eu' nacional e à luta para ultrapassar a solidão descrita por Octávio Paz. Paradoxalmente, esta busca forma uma parte dessa identidade, e parece inconclusa.

Quién era Joseph Girard? El Instituto Bacteriológico Nacional de México visto desde afuera (1905-1913) / Who was Joseph Girard? The Instituto Bacteriológico Nacional de México: a perspective from outside

Trata de reconstruir la trayectoria durante siete años en el Instituto Bacteriológico Nacional de México, del médico militar de origen francés, Joseph Girard (1876-1916), a la luz del material localizado en los archivos europeos, particularmente en Francia e Inglaterra.(AU)

Microbiology in Mexico and Brazil in the late-XIX and early-XX centuries

It analyses the historical similarities and differences between Mexico and Brazil in the process that resulted in the gradual incorporation of microbiological knowledge into local understanding.(AU)

Entrenando a los cazadores de microbios de la república: la domesticación de la microbiología en Mexico / Training those who search for microbes in the republic: domesticating microbiology in México

It deals with the case of Mexico in which the teaching of Bacteriology in the Medical School began very early in 1888. This distinctiveness can be explained through several social and scientific particulars such as the scientific modernization launched since 1867 (new scientific institutions of research and imporvement of science teaching); the development of an ideology deeply based on science's achievements and methods; the absence of practical applications (in therapy or diagnosis) of Microbiology among others. But it remains that in a diferent way to industrialized countries in Mexico this paradigm was not used for research and development in agriculture, industry or sanitation. Science by its own sake gives the impression that it was the objective of its teaching.(AU)