Abstract: The ESERA SIG9 is launching its 6th webinar on “Theoretical and methodological aspects of writing the history of science” by Ivã Gurgel from Universidade de São Paulo (TeHCo-USP), Brazil. Contemporary History of Science has moved well beyond a narrow concern with the genesis of scientific concepts. It increasingly emphasizes the study of scientific practices as historically situated activities, shaped by cultural, social, and political contexts. This shift has entailed a diversification of both research objects and methodological approaches, broadening the scope of historical inquiry and challenging earlier internalist narratives. Within this renewed historiography, science education itself has emerged as a significant domain, not only as an object of analysis but also as a space where historical interpretations of science are produced, circulated, and contested. This seminar presents a reflexive account of my experience as a researcher, as coordinator of the Historical Archive of the Institute of Physics at the University of São Paulo (IFUSP), and as editor of the Revista Brasileira de História da Ciência (Brazilian Journal of History of Science). It engages with key methodological issues raised in previous SIG9 meetings, including the nature of explanation in historical writing, and the use and interpretation of documentary sources. Attention will be given to the deployment of theoretical frameworks in historical research, highlighting how their function and epistemological status differ from those in other areas of the humanities.
Short Bio: Ivã Gurgel is a professor at the Physics Institute of the University of São Paulo (USP), Brazil. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in physics in 2004 and a M.Sc. in Physics Teaching in 2006, he in 2010 earned a PhD in Science Education from USP. He completed his doctoral internship at SPHERE in Paris, and most recently spent a sabbatical at the Niels Bohr Archive. An expert on the history of physics in the 19th and 20th centuries, he specializes in the history of high-energy physics and the history of science in Brazil. At USP, he coordinates the Theory and History of Contemporary Science Group as well as the Historical Collection of the Physics Institute.
WEBINAR-6 LINK INVITATION – ESERA SIG 9
Date: Wednesday May 27th, 2026
Time: 5,30h-7h pm CET
ZOOM Meeting Link https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84732235264?pwd=K2dFZHJHd3VyQmlvUEhpbWsvS1lmUT09