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“Method and Much Scientific Probity”: Hugo de Lacerda (1860–1944) and the Chair of Hydrography of the Lisbon Naval School (1897–1907)

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A Bridge between Conceptual Frameworks

Part of the book series: History of Mechanism and Machine Science ((HMMS,volume 27))

Abstract

In 1897 Hugo de Lacerda (1860–1944), a Portuguese naval officer and hydrographic engineer, took charge of the chair of hydrography at the Lisbon Naval School. This chapter analyses how Hugo de Lacerda sought to overcome longstanding predicaments and controversies surrounding hydrographic activity in Portugal, by bringing together pedagogical strategies, observatory techniques and military values, under a patriotic rhetoric of scientific prowess.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    “Secção Hidrográfica” in Portuguese. The English expression Hydrographic Section is used with capitals in order to avoid confusion with the preceding section of hydrography mentioned earlier in this chapter.

  2. 2.

    The so-called Full Course (Curso Completo) of the EPL originally comprised ten chairs, which can be summarized as follows: 1st and 2nd—algebra and geometry, calculus, probabilities; 3rd—mechanics and its applications; 4th—astronomy and geodesy; 5th—experimental and mathematical physics; 6th—general chemistry and its applications; 7th—mineralogy, geology, and principles of metallurgy; 8th—comparative anatomy and zoology; 9th—botany and principles of agriculture; 10th—political economy and principles of administrative and commercial law ( Diário do Governo no. 13, 16 January 1837, p 70). As in the case of Naval cadets, there were several combinations of specific courses as preparation for further military and techno-scientific studies in other institutions.

  3. 3.

    The Naval School also offered courses for pilots and other naval specialties. The expression “officers’ course” will be used hereafter to refer to the general course that gave access to the career of Naval officer.

  4. 4.

    The five chairs were the following: (1). Elements of mechanics; spherical and nautical astronomy; (2). Principles of optics, practice of astronomical observations and navigational computing, performance of a complete journey; (3). Theoretical and practical artillery, principles of provisional fortification, geography and hydrography; (4). Naval architecture and technical drawing; (5). Naval manoeuvres and tactics. Complementary activities included fencing, swimming and military exercises. It must be noted that this arrangement of courses and complementary activities (as well as the preparatory studies at the EPL) underwent several reformations over the following decades. It is impossible to give detailed notice of all of them here. For an overview see Morais (1945) and Eça (1892). I am indebted to Ana Patrícia Martins for giving me access to unpublished material of her doctoral research on the mathematician and lecturer of the Naval School, Daniel Augusto da Silva (1814–1878).

  5. 5.

    (See note 2).

  6. 6.

    Similarly to the EPL, the Army School (Escola do Exército) resulted from the liberal reformations of higher education implemented in the mid-1830s. It played a very important role in the training of state engineers who conducted important infra-structural projects (Macedo 2012).

  7. 7.

    This directorate underwent several denominations. It is generally referred as Direcção Geral dos Trabalhos Geodésicos. For a complete chronology of its official denominations and institutional configurations, see Alegria and Garcia (2000; p 17).

  8. 8.

    This project was only completed by the beginning of the twentieth century (Alegria and Garcia 2000).

  9. 9.

    Usually mentioned as Comissão de Cartografia.

  10. 10.

    “[precisam de] livros e da própria inteligência”.

  11. 11.

    The society, whose complete name was Sociedade Real Marítima, Militar e Geográfica para o Desenho, Gravura e Impressão das Cartas Hidrográficas, Geográficas e Militares, was dissolved c. 1807, upon the Napoleonic invasions of Portugal.

  12. 12.

    In the eye and ear method, the observer listened attentively to the beats of a clock and estimated the fraction of second corresponding to the passage of the star by a reticule thread. In the American method, an electric chronograph was used to record both the signals from the clock and the signals from the observer, who pressed (or released) a key in the moment he saw the star crossing the thread.

  13. 13.

    “já cônscio de quanto vale e a não ter que apelar senão para os seus próprios recursos, [o hidrógrafo pode] proceder a todos os géneros de observações por mais delicadas que sejam (…)” (Ferreira 1886, p 62).

  14. 14.

    It was the 9th chair in the 1887 reform, and the 8th in the 1895 reform, with the full title of Hydrography and principles of geodesy (Hidrografia e princípios de geodesia). In 1903 its full name changed to Hydrography, lighthouses, oceanography and maritime routes (Hidrografia, faróis, oceanografia e derrotas) (Morais 1945, pp 42–43; Silva 1945, pp 186).

  15. 15.

    The second part should be dedicated to the actual processes of surveying, as it can be inferred from a later version cited below.

  16. 16.

    The following works are included in the bibliography: Frochot, Marées—Campaigne du “Ougnay-Frouin”, 1903–1904; A. Germain (1882), Traité d’hydrographie, Paris; Thompton S. Lecky (1884), Wrinkles in practical navigation; Le Bail, Hydrographie: Campaigne du “Ougnay-Frouin”, 1903–1904; Eugène Prévot (1898), Topographie: la topographie expediée, Paris; M. J. Thoulet (1896), Oceanographie dynamique, Paris; M. J. Thoulet (1890), Oceanographie statique, Paris; William J. L. Wharton (1898), Hydrographic surveying: A Description of the Means and Methods Employed in Constructing Marine Charts, London.

  17. 17.

    “Um livro de hydrographia escripto em portuguez, segundo processos estabelecidos por mestres portugueses, como Folque, Batalha, e Brito Limpo, já fallecidos, e ainda por Campos Rodrigues, felizmente ainda vivo para glória e proveito de Portugal, não era só preciso para os alumnos da Escola Naval; era-o para a maioria da Corporação da Armada.” Caetano Maria Batalha (1810–1881) was among the first group of hydrographers who studied geodesy with Folque in the 1830s. Francisco António de Brito Limpo (1832–1891) was a Land Army engineer and surveyor who gained local prestige as a designer of geodesic and topographic instruments.

  18. 18.

    “o verdadeiro sentido do marinheiro.”

  19. 19.

    “método, e muita probidade científica.”

  20. 20.

    The River Sado runs through the southern province of Alentejo and meets the ocean near the city of Setúbal, roughly 30 km to the south of Lisbon.

  21. 21.

    It was Bérrio, a supply vessel constructed in 1886 in which some changes were introduced to accomodate the cadets.

  22. 22.

    According to the decree of 1901 cited above, fluvial and coastal surveys should cover at least half a mile of terrain and adopt the scale 1:5000; for preliminary surveys made from the ship at least a full mile and the scale 1:10,000 were required.

  23. 23.

    “uma lacuna inqualificável”.

  24. 24.

    King Carlos (1863–1908) was entroned in 1889. He was murdered by radical Republicans during a public appearance on February 1st, 1908. The throne was then occupied by his son Manuel II (1889–1932) until the revolution of October 1910.

  25. 25.

    Mozambique stands out in this picture. Due to the strategic importance of its seaports for traffic in south-eastern Africa, several surveys were undertaken there between 1870 and 1914. After leaving the Naval School in 1903, Hugo de Lacerda went on to coordinate the enhancement of the harbour in Lourenço Marques nowadays Maputo (Lacerda 1906, 1907).

  26. 26.

    “É o caos, a torre de Babel, a desordem organizada (…) o sistema em que o interesse pessoal pelo trabalho, que pode existir ou não, supre completamente a ordem e o método.”

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Acknowledgements

Research presented in this paper was carried out under the post-doctoral grant SFRH/BPD/73373/2010, awarded by the FCT—Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology. I would like to thank Luis M. Carolino and Teresa Salomé for inviting me to present an earlier version of this paper at the workshop A Experiência Politécnica (University of Lisbon, March 2013), Ana Simões for her comments and suggestions, and Ana Patrícia Martins for giving me access to unpublished material of her doctoral research on the Lisbon Naval School.

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  1. Inter-University Centre for the History of Science and Technology, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

    Pedro Miguel Pinto Raposo

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    Raffaele Pisano

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Pinto Raposo, P. (2015). “Method and Much Scientific Probity”: Hugo de Lacerda (1860–1944) and the Chair of Hydrography of the Lisbon Naval School (1897–1907). In: Pisano, R. (eds) A Bridge between Conceptual Frameworks. History of Mechanism and Machine Science, vol 27. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9645-3_23

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