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Summary
In the period between the two World Wars, the Portuguese Geological Survey (Serviços Geológicos de Portugal: PGS) was legally dependent on the General Directorate of Mines and Geological Survey (Direcção Geral de Minas e Serviços Geológicos: GDMGS). Portugal was then living through troubled times, and the PGS struggled with financial problems and a lack of technical personnel. This situation did not allow the PGS to work properly as a scientific institution, and achieve its main function: the making and publication of geological maps and research papers.
The author is grateful to Ana Carneiro and Hugh Torrens for their contributions to the manuscript. I also want to express my gratitude to David Oldroyd and to Teresa Lopes for their particular help with a foreign language; to Miguel Magalhães Ramalho who kindly gave me permission to carry out the research at the Historical Archive of the Institute of Geology and Mining (IGM); to Paula Serrano, chief-librarian at IGM, and her collaborators, for their efficient help; and to Pedro Patinha (IGM) for the raster version of the Cascais geological map. I also wish to thank the anonymous referees for their comments and suggestions.
The research underlying this paper was carried out in the context of the project Laying down the Foundation Stone: 19th Century Geology in the Context of the Mining and Metals General Committee and the Geological Survey, approved by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia/Portugal, in the context of the Programa Operacional Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (POCTI) of the Quadro Comunitário de Apoio III (2000–2006), partly funded by FEDER.
Notes
1Jorge M. de Oliveira Sim[otilde]es, ‘Os Serviços Geológicos em Portugal’, Comunicaç[otilde]es dos Serviços Geológicos de Portugal, 14 (1923), 30.
2Ana Carneiro, ‘Outside Government Science, “Not a Single Tiny Bone to Cheer Us Up!” The Geological Survey of Portugal (1857–1908), the Involvement of Common Men, and the Reaction of Civil Society to Geological Research’, Annals of Science, 62 (2005), 141–204.
3For this opinion, see J. Sim[otilde]es (note 1), 30; Fernando M. Moitinho de Almeida e António B. Carvalhosa, ‘Breve história dos Serviços Geológicos em Portugal’, Comunicaç[otilde]es dos Serviços Geológicos de Portugal, 63 (1974), 239–65 (249 and 250); João M. Cotelo Neiva, ‘Comiss[otilde]es e Serviços Geológicos e Carta Geológica de Portugal’, Boletim de Minas, 35 (1998), 391–9 (395).
4To know how other Geological Surveys dealt with the question of mineral resources in the period between the two World Wars, see H.E. Wilson, Down to Earth (Edinburgh, 1985), 20, 21, 38, and 39; Mary C. Rabbitt, United States Geological Survey: a History of Public Lands, Federal Science and Mapping Policy, and Development of Mineral Resources in the United States, 3 volumes (Washington, DC, 1979–1986), volume 3, 22, 27 and 28; C. Vodden, '150 years in the history of the Geological Survey of Canada’, Episodes, 2 (1992), 99–110 (104 and 105).
5For the history of other European Geological Surveys, see H. Wilson (note 4); M. Rabbitt (note 4); C. Vodden (note 4); Gordon L.H. Davies, North from the Hook: 150 Years of the Geological Survey of Ireland (Dublin, 1995); John S. Flett, The First Hundred Years of the Geological Survey of Great Britain (London, 1937); Edward Bailey, Geological Survey of Great Britain (London, 1952); Pietro Corsi, ‘The Italian Geological Survey: the Early History of a Divided Community’, in Four Centuries of the Word ‘Geology’, edited by G.B. Vai, and W. Cavazza (Bologna, 2003), 271–321; Martin Guntau, ‘The History of the Origins of the Prussian Geological Survey in Berlin (1873)’, History of Technology, 5 (1988), 51–58; E. Dudich, ‘A central European Survey in a changing society: 125 years of the Hungarian Geological Survey’, Episodes, 4 (1994), 111–13; Francisco Javier Ayala-Carcedo, Historia de los Mapas Geológicos de España (Madrid, 1999); Oldroyd, D., and McKenna, G., ‘Conditions of Employment and Work Practices in the Early Years of the Geological Survey of Great Britain’, Earth Sciences History, 24 (2005), 197–223.
6The concept of ‘geological culture’ is outlined in Simon Knell, The Culture of English Geology, 1815–1851: a Science Revealed Through its Collecting (Aldershot, 2000) and Martin J.S. Rudwick, The Great Devonian Controversy: the Shaping of Scientific Knowledge among Gentleman Specialists (Chicago, 1985).
7A. Carneiro (note 2), 141–204.
8A. Carneiro (note 2), 148 and Vanda Leitão, Assentar a Primeira Pedra: as Primeiras Comiss[otilde]es Geológicas Portuguesas (1848–1868), unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, New University of Lisbon, Lisbon, 2004, 45.
9The teaching of geological matters in Portuguese universities was analysed by Martim R. Portugal Ferreira, 200 Anos de Mineralogia e Arte de Minas: desde a Faculdade de Filosofia (1772) até à Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia (1972) (Coimbra, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade de Coimbra, 1998) and Miguel T. Antunes, ‘Sobre a História do Ensino da Geologia em Portugal’, Comunicaç[otilde]es dos Serviços Geológicos de Portugal, 75 (1989), 122–70.
10A. Carneiro (note 2), 143.
11A. Carneiro (note 2), 144–6; V. Leitão (note 8), 61–5 and 73–85. Between 1848 and 1858, an early geological survey (Comissão Geológica e Mineralógica) was established in the context of Royal Academy of Sciences of Lisbon existed, which was directed by the French engineer Charles Bonnet (1816–1867). However, the outcome of this first survey was poor: it was understaffed, its tasks were too wide-ranging, and Bonnet failed to comply with his duties. V. Leitão (note 8), 86–97.
12David Oldroyd, Thinking about the Earth: A History of Ideas in Geology (London, 1996), 108–30.
13A. Carneiro (note 2), 146; V. Leitão (note 8), 79. V. Leitão and A. Carneiro argued that the Ministry of Public Works, Trade, and Industry acted as a ‘centre of calculation’ in Latour's sense, was composed of a multitude of subsidiary ‘centres’ devoted to the compilation and recompilation of various kinds of data, and had the purpose of converting the accumulating knowledge into ‘inscriptions’ and material structures. In this context, the PGS was therefore a ‘centre of calculation’ within the Geodesic Directorate, and more generally in the MPW bureaucratic apparatus. A. Carneiro (note 2), 145 and V. Leitão (note 8), 325–34 and 365–69. For the concept of ‘centre of calculation’, see Bruno Latour, Science in Action. How to Follow Scientist and Engineers through Society (Milton Keynes, 1987).
14A. Carneiro (note 2), 157.
15A. Carneiro (note 2), 168.
16A. Carneiro (note 2), 170.
17A. Carneiro (note 2), 175–8.
18A. Carneiro (note 2), 147–80.
19No research has yet been carried out on this period of time. The main sources for information are J. Sim[otilde]es (note 1) and F. Almeida and A. Carvalhosa (note 3).
20J. Sim[otilde]es (note 1), 20 and F. Almeida and A. Carvalhosa (note 3), 240.
21Decree 4 641, 14 July 1918, 1290.
22Joaquim V. Serrão, História de Portugal, 11 volumes (Lisbon, 1989), XI; José A. França, Os Anos Vinte em Portugal, Estudos de Factos Socio-culturais (Lisbon, 1992); Joaquim V. Serrão and António H. Oliveira Marques (eds), Nova História de Portugal, 11 volumes (Lisbon, 1991), XI.
23Manuel V. Cabral, Portugal na Alvorada do Século XX (Lisbon, 1979); K.C. Schwartzman, ‘Instabilidade Democrática nos Países Semiperiféricos. A Primeira República Portuguesa’, in O Estado Novo—das Origens ao Fim da Autarcia (1926–1959), 2 volumes, edited by António da C. Pinto (Lisbon, Editorial Fragmentos, 1987), I, 25–40; F. Medeiros, A Sociedade e a Economia Portuguesas nas Origens do Salazarismo (Lisbon, 1978); Sacuntala de Miranda, ‘Crise Económica, Industrialização e Autarcia na Década de 30’, in O Estado Novo?das Origens ao Fim da Autarcia (1926–1959), 2 volumes, edited by António da C. Pinto (Lisbon, 1987), I, 41–65.
24As indicated in note 21, 1292.
25As indicated in note 21, 1292.
26As indicated in note 21, 1303.
27Decree 11 267, 25 November 1925, 1620.
28As indicated in note 27, 1620.
29As indicated in note 21, 1297.
30When comparing the PGS staff with that of one of the best-studied geological surveys, the Geological Survey of Great Britain, two differences stand out: the PGS staff was dominated by one group of civil servants, the engineers and its members had a low level of specialization. Oldroyd and McKenna (note 5), table 3, 207.
31Decree 15 018, 11 February 1928, 307.
32As indicated in note 31, 307.
33 Verbo Enciclopédia Luso-Brasileira da Cultura, 29 volumes (Lisbon, 1967), V, 859 and 860.
34Official Letter No. 2, 16 January 1928; Official Letter No. 3, 17 January 1926.
35Books of Official Letters for 1918–1935.When it came to money issues, the difference between the PGS chief and the Director of the Geological Survey of Great Britain was enormous, with the latter being able to dispose disburse money in a much more independent manner; see Oldroyd and McKenna (note 5).
36Budget Sheets for 1930–1931; Official Letter No. 24, 29 March 1930; Official Letter No. 11, 14 March 1932.
37Official Letter No. 24, 29 March 1930; Official Letter No. 11, 14 March 1932.
38In 1926, ninety-five Portuguese escudos were equivalent to one English pound in gold.
39Official Letter No. 11, 14 March 1932.
40Books of Official Letters for 1918–1935.
41Books of Official Letters for 1918–1935.
42Official Letter No. ?, 12 April 1928.
43Official Letter No. 21, 7 September 1918.
44Official Letter No. ?, 18 December 1930.
45Official Letter No. ?, 11 January 1933.
46Books of Official Letters for 1918–1935.
47Books of Official Letters for 1918–1935.When comparing the daily routine of the PGS with that of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, for instance, there is no information that the latter had to deal with such bureaucratic work; Oldroyd and McKenna (note 5).
48Payment Sheets for 1918–1935; Books of official letters for 1918–1935.
49A. Carneiro (note 2), 143–4.
50Jorge M. de Oliveira Sim[otilde]es, ‘Biografia de Geólogos Portugueses?Francisco Luís Pereira de Sousa (1870–1931)’, Comunicaç[otilde]es dos Serviços Geológicos de Portugal, 17 (1931), 3–11; António A.O. Machado e Costa, ‘O Professor Dr. Francisco Luís Pereira de Sousa, 1870–1931’, Boletim do Museu de Mineralogia e Geologia da Universidade de Lisboa, 2 (1933), 2–14; J. Sim[otilde]es (note 1), 99; F. Almeida and A. Carvalhosa (note 3), 259.
51Alentejo and Algarve are the southern provinces of Portuguese mainland, and their geology is very diverse. The age of the rock formations goes from the Paleozoic to the Cenozoic Eras comprising sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks.
52Official Letter No. 11, 24 March 1932.
53J. Sim[otilde]es (note 1), 49; F. Almeida and A. Carvalhosa (note 3), 250.
54Francisco Luís Pereira de Sousa, O Terramoto do 1° de Novembro de 1755 em Portugal e um Estudo Demográfico, 4 volumes (Lisbon, 1919–1932).
55Décio Thadeu, ‘Prof. Amílcar Mário de Jesus’, Boletim da Sociedade Geológica de Portugal, 13 (1958–1960), 309–11; F. Almeida and A. Carvalhosa (note 3), 259 and 260; Luís Aires-Barros, ‘O Culto da Geologia: Breve Resenha Histórica sobre a Contribuição dos Engenheiros de Minas Portugueses’, Boletim de Minas, 36 (1999), 103–10 (105 and 107); Verbo Enciclopédia Luso-Brasileira da Cultura, 29 vols. (Lisbon, 1973), XIV, 217.
56Carlos Freire de Andrade, Os Vales Submarinos Portugueses e o Diastrofismo das Berlengas e da Estremadura (Lisbon, 1937–1938).
57Carneiro, A., and Mota, T., ‘Francisco Luiz Pereira de Sousa (1870–1931): 1755, um terramoto para uma vida’, paper delivered at the international interdisciplinary Meeting O Terramoto de 1755: Impactos Históricos, Lisbon, 4–5 November, 2005.
58J. Sim[otilde]es (note 1), 30; F. Almeida e A. Carvalhosa (note 3), 249 and 250; J. Neiva (note 3), 395; João Carrington da Costa, Do Conhecimento Geológico de Portugal Continental (Porto, 1942), 56; Carlos Teixeira, Geólogos . . . para quê?!!! (Lisbon, 1976), 5.
59Ana Carneiro, ‘The Travels of Nery Delgado (1835–1908) in the Context of the Portuguese Geological Survey’, Comunicaç[otilde]es do Instituto Geológico e Mineiro, 88 (2001), 150–75; Ana Carneiro and Vanda Leitão, ‘Engineers at the Geological Survey of Portugal in the Nineteenth Century: Considerations on the Professionalisation of Geologists, in Jogos de Identidade: os Engenheiros, a Formação e a Acção, edited by Maria P. Diogo, A. Grelon, Irina Gouzevitch and Ana C. de Matos (in press).
60Paul J. McCartney, Henry De la Beche: Observations on an Observer (Cardiff, 1977), 37; J. Morrell, ‘Science and Government: John Phillips (1800–1874) and the Early Ordnance Geological Survey of Britain’, in Science, Politics and the Public Good: Essays in Honour of Margaret Gowing, edited by N. Rupke (Oxford, 1988), 7 and 8; Tom Sharpe and Paul J. McCartney, The Papers of H.T. De la Beche (1796–1855) in the National Museum of Wales (Cardiff, Geological Series No. 17, 1998), preface and 8; H. Wilson (note 4), 8–11; Oldroyd and McKenna (note 5), 197–200.
61Archibald Geikie, Life of Sir Roderick I. Murchison (London, 1875).
62For the Italian case, see P. Corsi (note 5); for the American case, see H. Wilson (note 4).
63H.G. Botto, ‘Engenheiros através do Diário do Governo?Compilação’, Técnica, 27 (1936), 1–71; C.A. Sepúlveda, História do Exército Português (Lisbon, 1912); Maria P. Diogo, A Construção de uma Identidade Profissional: A Associação dos Engenheiros Civis Portugueses, 1869–1937 (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, New University of Lisbon, 1994).
64Written note from Paiva Mourão to the GDMGS Director, 28 August 1919.
65All the evidence points to the fact that the role of PGS field assistants in the institution has no comparison with that accomplished by field assistants of other national geological surveys.
66Most of the mining explorations in Portugal did not employ specialized personnel, and those that did were owned by foreigners who preferred to employ technical personnel from their own countries. António de Mello Nogueira, ‘Elementos para o estudo da indústria mineira em Portugal nos anos de 1930 a 1939’ , Boletim de Minas, Ano de 1939 (1941), 3–23.
67M. Portugal Ferreira (note 9), 72.
68H. Botto (note 63), 26–34, 38–42 and table II.
69A. Machado e Costa (note 50); Orlando Ribeiro, ‘Ernest Fleury e o Ensino da Geologia’, Boletim da Sociedade Geológica de Portugal, 13 (1958–1960); António Celestino da Costa, A Universidade Portuguesa e o Problema da sua Reforma (Porto, 1918).