Portuguese amateur astronomy (1850-1910)

Abstract

Although amateur astronomers have existed probably for as long as mankind has observed the sky their role has continued to adapt to different technological and social conditions. Throughout the nineteenth century two opposing trends were at play. On the one hand, the professionalisation of science and the rising cost of first class instruments led to a reduced number of research fields available to amateurs. On the other hand, an increased educated population with access to affordable small instruments led to the emergence of a growing number of middle class amateurs who founded institutions like the British Astronomical Association and the Société Astronomique de France, both of which still exist today. While these developments have already been well studied for countries like the United Kingdom the same cannot be said of many others. We argue, nevertheless, that a global understanding of the evolution of amateur astronomy requires a comparison of different local dynamics, and that interesting insights into the history of astronomy, in particular, and human development, in general, may be gained in the process. In this paper we present our ongoing research on the Portuguese amateur astronomical community between 1850 and 1910. We attempt to identify their members and analyse their research programs and relationships. We conclude that while Portuguese developments followed the contemporaneous international trend the frailties of the educational system and science opularization dynamics were probably responsible for the small number of amateur astronomers. The small size of this community in turn hindered the appearance of a local astronomical society so instead Portuguese amateurs joined and collaborated with international societies. Their contributions were well received by the astronomical community.