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2 - A Republican Science

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 August 2019

Agustí Nieto-Galan
Affiliation:
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
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Summary

Chapter 2 describes the role that chemists played in the construction of the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1939). It explores how many of them became allies of the leftist policies of the new regime, with its dreams of secularism, liberal universalism and peace, as opposed to the dark images of chemical weapons of the First World War. The freethinking rationalism of the JAE placed chemistry in a comfortable position to highlight material progress and a positivistic scientific culture as solid allies of the new Republic. Within that framework, the chapter covers the opening in 1932 of the Instituto Nacional de Física y Química (INFQ) – nicknamed ‘The Rockefeller’ after the source of funding used to create it; the university reforms in teaching and experimental chemistry; the International Conference on Pure and Applied Chemistry held in Madrid in 1934; and further attempts to link academic chemistry to industrial growth, which challenges the frequent criticism of a supposedly overly academic chemistry. Utopian dreams of material progress opposed any use of chemicals for war purposes as a sign of the internationalism of the time, which supported the invitation of foreign chemists to visit Spain, as well as the sending of large numbers of young chemists for training abroad.

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Chapter
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The Politics of Chemistry
Science and Power in Twentieth-Century Spain
, pp. 52 - 82
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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  • A Republican Science
  • Agustí Nieto-Galan, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
  • Book: The Politics of Chemistry
  • Online publication: 12 August 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108687614.005
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  • A Republican Science
  • Agustí Nieto-Galan, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
  • Book: The Politics of Chemistry
  • Online publication: 12 August 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108687614.005
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • A Republican Science
  • Agustí Nieto-Galan, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
  • Book: The Politics of Chemistry
  • Online publication: 12 August 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108687614.005
Available formats
×