Joining pleasure and work in the making of science: The Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro - 1808 to 1860

Abstract

The Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro played an important role in the first half of the nineteenth century. Although the park will soon celebrate its two-hundredth anniversary, no systematized study of it has ever been undertaken. With the intent of contributing to discussions on the history of institutions and the natural sciences during the period in question, the article seeks to uncover what has lain behind this disinterest in the garden on the part of researchers from the history of the sciences and history of institutions. The article also analyzes major issues in the history of the garden from its creation in 1808 until becoming part of the Imperial Fluminense Institute of Agriculture in 1861.