Welcome
The Museum of Astronomy and Related Sciences, a research institute of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovations is pleased to host the V International Seminar Material Culture and Science and Technology Heritage (VSPCT), carried out by the group of Museology and Preservation of Cultural Collections (MAST). At the same time, the V Seminar on Management of Cultural Heritage of Science and Technology, promoted by the research group Museology, Science and Information (UFPE). These groups have been working together for the last ten years, aiming to promote a space for reflection and academic studies on cultural activities arising from scientific and technological dynamics.
The events are open to all those interested in the preservation, documentation and use of Science and Technology cultural heritage understood in a broad spectrum. According to the Charter of Rio de Janeiro, the cultural heritage of science and technology consists of the tangible and intangible legacy related to scientific and technological knowledge produced by humanity, in all areas of knowledge, which makes reference to the scientific dynamics, technological development and teaching, and memory and action of individuals in spaces of scientific knowledge production. These artifacts, in their historicity, can transform and, selectively, are assigned values, meanings and senses, enabling their emergence as goods of cultural value.
The Seminar will take place between October 04 and 07, 2022 in the Auditorium of the Annex Building of MAST, located at Rua General Bruce, 586 - São Cristóvão, being also transmitted in digital media, configuring itself as a blended event. There will be publication of expanded abstracts in electronic proceedings and future publication of an e-book with selected works presented at the event.
DEADLINES
Submission of Abstracts: until July 11, 2022
Response of the Scientific Committee: untill August 15, 2022
Submission of the final texts by authors: untill August 30, 2022
Publication of Annals : October 04, 2022
The Host: The Museum of Astronomy and Related Sciences
Museu de Astronomia e Ciências Afins (MAST), which opened to the public in 1985, is a research institute pertaining to the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. One of its main activities is to preserve its collections, especially the most important, its collection of scientific instruments, which grants MAST its identity as a museum of science and technology. The museum stands in the grounds of the old National Observatory, and occupies a number of buildings belonging to it. These historic buildings, as well as the collections that originated within them, are preserved by a Federal Law passed in 1986 (IPHAN). MAST’s main building houses the museum’s visitable technical store opened to the public, where much of the collection of historical scientific instruments is kept.
The MAST collection is one of the most important of its kind in South America. It contains 2000 objects. Around 1700 belong to the old National Observatory, and were used in service and research of great importance to the country, like determining and broadcasting the official time in Brazil, forecasting the weather, astronomical phenomena, delimiting Brazilian borders, magnetic mapping of Brazilian soil, and others. Most of these instruments date back to the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, though some of the more aesthetically interesting pieces, like the quadrant by J. Sisson and the G Adams theodolite, are from the 1700s. Many of the objects are connected to astronomy, topography, geodetics, geophysics, meteorology, weather and optical measurements. They are typical of this kind of institution, but the collection also touches on other scientific areas, like electricity, magnetism and chemistry.
