This group examines the history of the evolutionary synthesis of genetics and natural selection, and its impact upon agriculture, and theories of race and eugenics.
Speaker Alan Sokal Professor of Mathematics, University College London (UCL) Professor Emeritus of Physics, New York University (NYU)
Presentation “When Science and Politics Collide: Lysenkoism and Communist Scientists in Britain, France and Italy”
The decade-and-a-half conflict in the Soviet Union between Lysenkoists and classical geneticists culminated in 1948, when genetics was officially declared to be a bourgeois pseudoscience. How did Communist and fellow-traveler scientists in the West react to this potential conflict between their scientific ethos and their political commitments?
The presentation will examine the variety of responses, focusing particularly on Britain, where the Communist Party was small but included several prominent scientists, notably J.B.S. Haldane and J.D. Bernal, as well as France and Italy, which had the largest Communist parties in Western Europe.
About Alan
Alan Sokal is Professor of Mathematics at University College London and Professor Emeritus of Physics at New York University. His research has included statistical mechanics, quantum field theory, and mathematical physics, alongside extensive work on questions concerning science, philosophy, culture, and the relationship between science and ideology. He is also the co-author, with Jean Bricmont, of Fashionable Nonsense: Postmodern Intellectuals’ Abuse of Science, and the author of Beyond the Hoax: Science, Philosophy and Culture.
The lecture will be delivered in English.
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Speaker Robert Wegner Researcher, Casa de Oswaldo Cruz (COC/Fiocruz) Professor, Graduate Program in History of Sciences and Health, Fiocruz
Presentation Eugenics: yesterday and today
About Robert
Robert Wegner holds a Ph.D. in Sociology and is a researcher at the Department of Research in History of Sciences and Health at Casa de Oswaldo Cruz (COC/Fiocruz), where he also teaches in the Graduate Program in History of Sciences and Health.
His research focuses on intellectual history and the history of science in Brazil, particularly debates concerning race and eugenics, as well as Brazilian social thought and the relationships between history, culture, and scientific thought.
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Speaker Pedro de Lima Navarro Ph.D. in Comparative Biology, University of São Paulo (USP) M.A. candidate in Science Education, State University of Maringá (UEM)
Presentation “Augusto César de Miranda Azevedo: Translating a Tropical Darwinism in 19th Century Brazil”
Augusto César de Miranda Azevedo (1851–1907) was an important figure in the dissemination of Darwinism in Brazil. While most historians have interpreted his reading of Darwin’s ideas as a “distortion” or, at best, as lacking originality, this presentation proposes that “creative appropriation” better explains the process.
By analyzing Miranda Azevedo’s 1875 doctoral thesis and his series of public lectures, the presentation argues that he actively and creatively adapted Darwinian principles in the hope of explaining — and possibly changing — Brazilian society. Through a process of interepistemic translation, Miranda Azevedo developed a form of “Tropical Darwinism,” making conscious choices about how Darwinism would be presented in Brazil. His case illustrates how different contexts of reception shape the circulation of scientific ideas across the world, moving beyond interpretations based on the supposed insufficiency of local readings in relation to a “pure” original set of ideas.
About Pedro
Pedro de Lima Navarro recently defended his Ph.D. in Comparative Biology at the University of São Paulo (Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto – USP), with research focused on the reception of Darwinism in Brazil and Portugal. He is currently pursuing an M.A. in Science Education at the State University of Maringá (UEM).
The lecture will be delivered in Portuguese.
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Speaker Alessandra Santana Soares e Barros Full Professor, Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) Graduate Program in Education and Graduate Program in Teaching, Philosophy and History of Science
Presentation “O lugar da ‘IMG’ (Interruption Médicale de Grossesse) nos discursos sobre Luto Perinatal (Deuil Périnatal) na França”
[“The place of ‘IMG’ (Medical Termination of Pregnancy) in discourses on Perinatal Grief in France”]
In France, narratives about Medical Termination of Pregnancy (IMG) strategically use discourses — media, legal, and political — on perinatal grief, resulting in: the impression that most fetuses aborted due to fetal anomaly (TOPFA) would have died anyway; an eidetic proximity to “euthanasia” in the decision-making process of pregnant women; the avoidance of mentioning “feticide” as an intrinsic and constitutive step of this type of abortion; and the omission of Down syndrome and its significant prevalence in such cases.
About Alessandra
Alessandra Santana Soares e Barros is a Full Professor at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), affiliated with the Graduate Program in Education and the Graduate Program in Teaching, Philosophy and History of Science.
The lecture will be delivered in Portuguese.
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Speaker Sofia Nestrovski M.A. in Literary Theory, University of São Paulo (USP) Ph.D. candidate in Literary Theory and Comparative Literature, University of São Paulo (USP)
Presentation “The Shame of Being Ashamed: The Relationship Between the Literature of the ‘Self’ and Darwin’s Thoughts on Humankind”
[“A vergonha de sentir vergonha. A relação entre a literatura do ‘eu’ e o pensamento de Darwin sobre a humanidade”]
The talk will focus on the relationship between the literature of the “self” and the development of Charles Darwin’s biological thinking, with a special emphasis on The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals (1872). The vocabulary and modes of observation employed by Darwin to describe human emotions — especially shame as a form of self-awareness — do not arise solely from a scientific tradition, but also engage with a literary tradition interested in naming and exploring inner life. Starting from William Wordsworth’s influence on Darwin, this paper seeks to approach Darwin’s writings through certain techniques of literary criticism, in order to read his theory of emotional expression through the lens of literary questions regarding perception, inner experience, and human universality.
About Sofia
Sofia Nestrovski holds an M.A. in Literary Theory from the University of São Paulo and is currently a Ph.D. candidate there, researching The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, by Charles Darwin. She has translated Darwin’s book on earthworms into Portuguese and is the co-author, with Leda Cartum, of As vinte mil léguas de Charles Darwin (Editora Fósforo/Edições Sesc, 2022), based on her podcast Vinte mil léguas, a Jabuti Award semifinalist, bridging literary studies and the history of science.
The lecture will be delivered in Portuguese.
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Speaker Marcelo Monetti Pavani M.A. in Science Education, University of São Paulo (PIEC-USP) Affiliated with LaHBE-USP
Presentation “Spencer, Lamarck e a angústia da influência” [“Spencer, Lamarck, and the Anxiety of Influence”]
In this presentation, Pavani will discuss aspects of Herbert Spencer’s evolutionary theory, with particular attention to the distinctive way in which Spencer appropriated ideas from Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and addressed Lamarck’s influence on his own theoretical framework.
Presentation: "The captain’s social policy: Bolsonarism, neo-Malthusianism, eugenics, and militarization in Brazil"
The lecture will be delivered in Portuguese.
Suggested Readings:
Ferreira, G. C. (2024). The captain’s social policy: Bolsonarism, neo-Malthusianism, eugenics, and militarization in Brazil.Serviço Social & Sociedade, 147(2).
Presentation: "How General Could an (Evolutionary) Theory Be?" The lecture will be delivered in Portuguese.
Suggested Reading:
"Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution" Author: Theodosius Dobzhansky Source: The American Biology Teacher, Vol. 35, No. 3 (Mar., 1973), pp. 125-129 Published by: National Association of Biology Teachers. Link to PDF
"Chapter 17: Practices of Generalization in Mathematical Physics, Biology, and Evolutionary Strategies" Author: Evelyn Fox Keller (Attached)
To learn more about Dr. Cortese, please click here: Google Scholar.
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Speaker: Mateus Costa Claro Molina Master’s Student in the Graduate Program in Comparative Biology University of São Paulo Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences, and Letters of Ribeirão Preto
Presentation: "Trofim D. Lysenko: From Vernalization to the Phasic Development of Plants." The lecture will be delivered in Portuguese.
Suggested Reading: Please see the attached materials.
To learn more about Mr. Molina, please click here: Lattes Curriculum
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TBA
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Speaker: Prof. Francesco Cassata Full Professor in Contemporary History, University of Genoa Presentation: "Reconstructing 'Dante's Race': Fabio Frassetto and the International Committee for Anthropological Standardization (SAS)." The lecture will be delivered in English. Suggested Readings: Iris Clever, Jaehwan Hyun, Elise K. Burton, "People in Motion: Introduction to Transnational Movement and Transwar Connections in the Anthropological and Genetic Study of Human Populations", Perspectives on Science, 30, 1 (2022): 1-12. Link: https://direct.mit.edu/posc/article/30/1/1/108148/People-in-Motion-Introduction-to-Transnational
To learn more about Prof. Cassata, please click here.
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This session is postponed and will be rescheduled. Speaker: Dra. Ágata Ignaciuk Klemba (Spain) Full Professor, Universidad de Granada Department of Anatomical Pathology and History of Science Presentation: "Gendering Contraceptive Technologies in Communist Poland." The lecture will be delivered in English. Suggested Readings: Coming soon. To learn more about Dr. Ignaciuk Klemba, please click here.
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Speaker:
M.s. Daniel Florence Giesbrecht (Brazil) Researcher at the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Coimbra Guest lecturer at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities (FLUC/UC) Ph.D. candidate in the Contemporary History Program, University of Coimbra
Presentation:
“Divus vs. Galton: Eugenia Negativa e Catolicismo no Brasil nas Décadas de 1920 e 1930” [Divus vs. Galton: Negative Eugenics and Catholicism in Brazil during the 1920s and 1930s]
The lecture will be in Portuguese.
Suggested Reading [Portuguese]:
1 - GIESBRECHT, Daniel Florence. Eugenics and Catholicism in Brazil: a study based on Catholic intellectual production in Rio de Janeiro in the decades of 1920 and 1930. In Revista de História Regional, v. 29, 2024. Link.
2 - WEGNER, Robert; SOUZA, Vanderlei Sebastião de. Negative eugenics, psychiatry, and Catholicism: Debates around eugenic sterilization in Brazil. História, Ciências, Saúde-Manguinhos, v. 20, pp. 263-288, 2013. Link to PDF.
3 - VELLOSO, Mônica Pimenta. A Ordem: A journal of political doctrine and Catholic culture. Revista de Ciência Política, v. 21, n. 3, pp. 117–160, 1978. Link to article.
Dr. Guilherme Prado Roitberg (Minas Gerais, Brazil) Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Minas Gerais (IFMG), Brazil Postdoctoral Researcher in the History of Science at the Casa de Oswaldo Cruz (COC/Fiocruz), Brazil
Presentation:
"É preciso arredondar os olhos do japonês": eugenia e miscigenação na obra "Aspectos íntimos do Japão" (1952) de Salvador de Toledo Piza Júnior.
["It's Necessary to Round the Japanese Eyes": Eugenics and Miscegenation in the Work "Intimate Aspects of Japan" (1952) by Salvador de Toledo Piza Júnior.].
2- Edméia de Almeida Cardoso Coelho, Maria de Fátima Gomes de Lucena, and Ana Tereza de Medeiros Silva, “O planejamento familiar no Brasil no contexto das políticas públicas de saúde: determinantes históricos,” Revista da Escola de Enfermagem da USP, 34:1 (2000), pp. 37–44. https://www.scielo.br/j/reeusp/a/GrTf3vFznTHzrbmnDHQHtDP
Explore Previous Works: To learn more about Dr. Weinberg, please click here.
Join us for this engaging discussion!
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Speaker: M.Sc. Lucas Carvalho do Nascimento Nogueira (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). PhD student in the Graduate Program in History of Sciences and Health, Fiocruz — Casa de Oswaldo Cruz (COC). Professor at the Department of Education of the State of Minas Gerais.
Presentation: "Aprenda a planejar a sua família, o nascimento dos bons: controle populacional no Brasil, 1961-1993.” [“Learning Family Planning, Birthing the Better: Population Control in Brazil, 1961-1993.”].
2- RAMSDEN, Edmund. Confronting the Stigma of Eugenics: Genetics, Demography and the Problems of Population: Social Studies of Science, December 2009, Vol. 39, No. 6 (December 2009), pp. 853-884. Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20506743/
4- BHERING, Marcos Jungmann Controle de natalidade no Brasil: um estudo sobre o Centro de Pesquisas e Assistência Integral à Mulher e à Criança (1975-1994). Tese (Doutorado em História das Ciências e da Saúde) – Casa de Oswaldo Cruz/Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, 2014. 202 f. Cap 04 – páginas, 129-156. https://ppghcs.coc.fiocruz.br/images/dissertacoes/teste/tese_marcos_bher...
Explore Previous Works: To learn more about M.Sc. Nogueira, please click here.
The presentation will be in Portuguese.
Join us for this engaging discussion!
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Dr. Leonardo Dallacqua de Carvalho (Brazil) Graduate Program in History at State University of Maranhão - UEMA, Brazil. PhD in History of Sciences at Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (2019).
Presentation: “Eugenics e (Hi)story-play-spaces: jogos eletrônicos e eugenia nas narrativas históricas". [Eugenics and (Hi)story-play-spaces: Electronic Games and Eugenics in Historical Narratives].
Explore Previous Works: To learn more about Dr. Carvalho, please click here.
Join us for this engaging discussion!
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Speaker: Dr. Mércio Pereira Gomes (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) Anthropologist, Associate Professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, UFRJ, Brazil.
Former President of Funai (National Indigenous People Foundation) from 2003 to 2007.
Presentation: “Genética: a última fronteira para se entender os povos indígenas e sua mestiçagem no Brasil".
[Genetics: The Final Frontier in Understanding Indigenous Peoples and Their Miscegenation in Brazil].”
Suggested Readings:
1—Gomes, M. P. (2019). O Brasil Inevitável: Ética, Mestiçagem e Borogodó. Topbooks. Read Book.
2—Gomes, M. P. (2012). Índios no Brasil. Contexto. Read Book.
Explore Previous Works: To learn more about Dr. Gomes, please click here.
Join us for this engaging discussion!
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Speaker: Dr. Ilana Löwy (Paris, France) Emerita Senior Research Fellow at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research.
Presentation: “Zika e a questão complexa do aborto 'eugênico' por indicação fetal. [Zika and the tangled issue of an 'eugenic' abortion for fetal indication].”
New book by the author: Löwy, I. (2024). Viruses and Reproductive Injustice. Johns Hopkins University Press. Please access more information about the book here.
Suggested Readings:
1—Löwy, I. (2020). Abortion for fetal anomaly: how to speak about a difficult topic. Cadernos de Saúde Pública, 36. Read Article.
2—Paul, D. Β., & Löwy, I. (2018). On Objectivity in Prenatal Genetic Care. OBM Genetics, 2(2), 1–1. Read Article.
3—Löwy, I. (2024). Chapter Two (Fetuses: Women, Doctors, and the Law) from 'Viruses and Reproductive Injustice: Zika in Brazil'. Johns Hopkins University Press. (Attached on our website).
Explore Previous Works: To learn more about Dr. Löwy, please click here.
Join us for this engaging discussion!
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Speaker: M.Sc. Alexandre Verçosa Greco (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). Master's graduate (2023) from the Graduate Program in History of Sciences and Health at Casa de Oswaldo Cruz/Fiocruz. Professor at the Department of Education of the State of Rio de Janeiro, SEEDUC/RJ.
Presentation: “O médico Mário Victor de Assis Pacheco no debate sobre o controle populacional (1968-1985)” [Doctor Mário Victor de Assis Pacheco in the debate on population control (1968-1985)].
Explore Previous Works: To learn more about Mr. Greco, please click here to access his Master's thesis.
Join us for this engaging discussion!
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Speakers: Dr. Rosanna Dent New Jersey Institute of Technology, New Jersey, United States.
Reading: “Human enhancement, ectogenesis and immortality: Russian cosmism and the archaeology of the transhumanism” (click here).
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Guests: Ana Carolina Vimieiro Gomes, Professor of History of Sciences at the Department of History at the Federal University of Minas Gerais. Rosanna Dent, Assistant Professor, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Presentation: “Explorando a história oral na história da genética humana no Brasil.”
Reading: soon.
Previous works: Please click here (Gomes) e and here (Dent).
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Guest: Vedran Duančić, PhD in History and Civilization from the European University Institute in Florence, Italy
Presentation: “Lysenkoism in Socialist Yugoslavia: Science and Politics across the Iron Curtain”
Title of the presentation: "Allies and Obstacles: Disability Activism and Parents of Children with Disabilities"
Reading: Sometimes Allies: Parent-Led Disability Organizations and Social Movements. Disability Studies Quarterly (DSQ) Vol. 39 No. 1 (2019): Winter 2019.
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Title of the presentation: "As contribuições de Nettie Maria Stevens para a teoria cromossômica: estudos sobre a determinação de sexo." Ana Paula Morais, PhD, Universidade Nove de Julho - Uninove, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Title of the presentation: " 'From Small Beginnings...:' Addressing the continuing shadows of eugenics".
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Miguel Ernesto Gabriel Couceiro de Oliveira, PhD in History of Science and Health, Casa de Oswaldo Cruz/Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Fiocruz, Brazil. Title of the presentation: "The Center of Genetic Research of the National Faculty of Philosophy of University of Brazil: the institutionalization of genetics in Rio de Janeiro (1945-1968)"
Reading: The summary for the presentation is attached. Click here to access Miguel Oliveira's doctoral thesis.
Title of the presentation: "A hormonal eugenics: endocrinological diseases as a medical and social problem in Brazil (1909-1948)" / "Uma eugenia hormonal: As doenças endocrinológicas como problema médico e social no Brasil (1909- 1948)".
November 17, 2021 - “Psiquiatria Genética na Eugenia alemã e no Brasil” - Pedro Muñoz (Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro)
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"Theodosius Dobzhansky e os brasileiros" Aldo Mellender de Araújo (Instituto de Biociências - UFRGS)
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"Epistemologia feminista e caminhos para uma ciência melhor: discussões em torno do conceito de objetividade e dos saberes localizados" - Eliza Teixeira de Toledo (PhD in History from the Graduate Program in History of Science and Health at Casa de Oswaldo Cruz - COC-Fiocruz) - Isabela Dornelas PhD Candidate (History Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; Visiting Predoctoral Fellow, Max Planck Institute for History of Science)
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June 16, 2021 –“Síndrome Congênita do ZikaVírus, Deficiência e memória da Eugenia” - Alessandra Santana (Federal University of Bahia Ondina)
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"Gene e desenvolvimento no período pré-Síntese moderna (1926-1931)," Fernanda Arcanjo (PhD student, University of Sao Paulo, Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters at Ribeirão Preto)
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"Interações interdisciplinares: genética humana e povos indígenas no Brasil” – Rosanna Dent (Rutgers University)
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Hello everyone! (também em português, abaixo)
Next Wednesday, Claude-Olivier Doron (Université Paris Diderot) is going a speech about "The genetic redefinition of race between science and (science)-fiction: the case of William Boyd." He will speak in English.
We are sending a paper by Doron about the subject.
Remember: the meeting happens at 12 p.m. (Eastern Time), 2 p.m.(Brasília Time).
See you next Wednesday! Robert Wegner ____________________
Olá, pessoal! Na próxima quarta-feira, Claude-Olivier Doron (Université Paris Diderot), fará a exposição sobre "A redefinição genética da raça entre ciência e (ciência)-ficção: o caso de William Boyd". A apresentação será feita em inglês. Estamos enviando um texto escrito por Doron sobre o tema. Lembre-se: o encontro ocorre ao meio dia do Leste dos EUA e às 14 horas do horário de Brasília. Abraços! Robert Wegner.
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William deJong-Lambert, Bronx Community College (CUNY), “Synthesizing a Synthesis: The Relationship between Theodosius Dobzhansky, Andre Dreyfus, Crodowaldo Pavan and Antonio Brito da Cunha”
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Marcelo Lima Loreto, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Paper: “Breve ensaio sobre política e ciência".
Dear colleagues, sorry for the delay in attaching the text. It can also be accessed through this link:
Lilian Al-Chueyr Pereira Martins, Universidade de São Paulo. Article: Franco, José Monte Sião. 2007. “As Contribuições de Theodosius Dobzhansky Para o Desenvolvimento Da Genética No Brasil ( 1943-1960 ): Um Estudo Bibliométrico.” Filosofia e História Da Biologia, Porto Alegre 203–25. http://www.abfhib.org/FHB/FHB-02/FHB-v02-13-Jose-Franco-M-Siao.pdf>
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Paula Arantes Botelho Briglia Habib, Universidade Federal Fluminense (Infes/UFF), "Breeding, Genetics, and Scientific Dissemination in the Revista de Agricultura (1926-1937)"
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Hello everyone!
Today, December 18, I am substituting the old file for a new one.
Now, you have my paper "The use and abuse of genetic? Agriculture and Eugenics in Brazil and the United States early Twentieth Century" that I will present at noon (EST) [14 horas no Brasil]. To get the paper, click on the "Readings" tab.
I have just downloaded the English version (pp.1-11) and the Portuguese version (pp.12-23).
I apologize for the eventual mistakes in both versions.
William deJong-Lambert is a Professor of History at Bronx Community College, CUNY who will be spending the spring semester 2025 teaching at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul as a Fulbright scholar while researching a biography of Theodosius Dobzhansky.
Paula Habib
Paula Habib is a Professor of History at the Federal University Fluminense (UFF/Brazil). Habib´s research specializes in history of agriculture, genetics, history of biology and eugenics during the first decades of the 20 th century. She holds a Ph.D. in History of Science and Health by Oswaldo Cruz Foundation/Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Marcelo Lima Loreto
Marcelo Lima Loreto is a science journalist and historian of science who writes for Folha de S.Paulo and other media outlets. He was a Visiting Scholar at Columbia University’s Institute of Latin American Studies (2022–2023) and a Research Fellow at the Consortium for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine (2021–2022). He received his Ph.D. in the History of Science from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in 2019. His work examines the history of evolution, heredity, and the life sciences in Brazil. Dissertation here: http://bibcegos.nce.ufrj.br/hcte/docs/teses/2019/marcelo_lima_loreto.pdf
Sofia Nestrovski
Sofia Nestrovski holds an M.A. in Literary Theory from the University of São Paulo and is currently a PhD candidate there, researching “The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals”, by Charles Darwin. She has translated Darwin’s book on earthworms into Portuguese and is the co-author, with Leda Cartum, of “As vinte mil léguas de Charles Darwin” (Editora Fósforo/Edições Sesc, 2022), based on their podcast “Vinte mil léguas” (a Jabuti Award semifinalist), bridging literary studies and the history of science.
