History of Science, Technology, and Environment

Coordination: Quintino Lopes

With a tradition of research in the field of History of Science, consolidated around the IHC centre at the University of Évora, the Research Group develops studies on laboratories, museums, disciplines, objects and scientific collections, taking into account the international ecosystem of scientific practices since the 18th century. The researchers of the group are dedicated to the history of different processes of circulation of knowledge and techniques, analysing specificities internal to the different disciplinary fields but also considering science in a general historical framework.

In this context, and given the technical development and technological applications of science in the fields of human and non-human life, the Research Group on the History of Science, Technology and the Environment is, currently, an important meeting place between Science and Technology Studies and Environmental History. From this reunion have arisen research projects on the history of forests and forestry policies, as well as the history of seeds, plagues and famines, and even the great wildfires. The group has also contributed to the development and renewal of Imperial History in the fields of the History of Science and Environmental History.

The group brings together historians with a background in history, but also in natural sciences. It promotes and supports the publication of HoST – Journal of History of Science and Technology.

With a view to promoting scientific and environmental culture and the links between research and advanced training, the group is responsible for the doctoral programme in History and Philosophy of Science – Museology (University of Évora) and maintains strategic relations with partners such as the National Museum of Natural History and Science and the National Museum of Archaeology.