May 2015
Railroads, disease, and tropical medicine in Brazil under the First Republic (HCSM vol.15 no.3 July/Sept. 2008), one of our most cited articles, explores the impact of malaria on infrastructure works from the 1890s to the 1920s.
The paper written by Jaime Benchimol and André Felipe Cândido da Silva, our former and current science editors, shows how railways supported the development of tropical medicine in the First Republic.
The Madeira-Mamoré Railroad was inaugurated in 1912 in the Brazilian state of Rondônia. Photo: Wickipedia.
It argues that scientists designated to control epidemic outbreaks were not limited to conducting campaigns; they also observed different aspects of the disease, including its relations to hosts and the environment, thus contributing to the production of new knowledge of malaria.
According to the paper, as the railroads penetrated the interior and tied the national territory together, they enjoyed the benefit of relatively successful sanitation endeavors. At the same time, they prompted valuable research that helped to shape tropical medicine.
See in Manguinhos about science and railroads :
Benchimol, Jaime Larry and Silva, André Felipe Cândido da. Railroads, disease, and tropical medicine in Brazil under the First Republic. Hist. cienc. saude-Manguinhos, Set 2008, vol.15, no.3.
Farro, Máximo E. Redes y medios de transporte en el desarrollo de expediciones científicas en Argentina (1850-1910). Hist. cienc. saude-Manguinhos, Set 2008, vol.15, no.3.
Salerno, Elena. Los Ferrocarriles del Estado en Argentina y su contribución a la ciencia. Hist. cienc. saude-Manguinhos, Set 2008, vol.15, no.3.
Contreras, Carlos and Cueto, Marcos. Caminos, ciencia y Estado en el Perú, 1850-1930. Hist. cienc. saude-Manguinhos, Set 2008, vol.15, no.3.
Vetter, Jeremy. Field science in the Railroad Era: the tools of knowledge empire in the American West, 1869-1916 . Hist. cienc. saude-Manguinhos, Sept 2008, vol.15, no.3.
