Sociedade Brasileira para o Progresso da Ciência (Portuguese for ''Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science'') is a Brazilian

scientific society A learned society ( ; also scholarly, intellectual, or academic society) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and sciences. Membership may be open to a ...

created in 1948 by several prominent scientists, with the aim of promoting

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

and

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

in the country by means of publications, conferences and political actions on behalf of science's advancement and progress. It was formed in the same spirit of two venerable institutions in the English-speaking world, the

British Association for the Advancement of Science The British Science Association (BSA) is a Charitable organization, charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Scienc ...

(founded 1831) and the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

(AAAS, founded 1848). The first president was Prof.

Jorge Americano Jorge is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name George. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese . It is derived from the Greek name Γεώργιος (''Georgios'' ...

, and among the founders there were important scientific personalities of the country, such as Paulo Sawaya, José Reis, Maurício Rocha e Silva,

Gastão Rosenfeld Gastão Rosenfeld (July 26, 1912 – July 15, 1990) was a Hungarian-Brazilian physician and biomedical scientist, one of the co-discoverers of bradykinin, together with Maurício Rocha e Silva and Wilson Teixeira Beraldo, in 1949. Early life an ...

and

José Ribeiro do Vale José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...

Otto Guilherme Bier Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', '' Odo'', '' Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fro ...

Henrique da Rocha Lima Henrique da Rocha Lima (24 November 1879 – 12 April 1956) was a Brazilian physician, pathologist and infectologist born in Rio de Janeiro. With his friend, Stanislaus von Prowazek, he described what would later be known as '' Rickettsia p ...

, Alberto Carvalho da Silva, Helena Nader and others. The Society has individual members as well as other Brazilian scientific societies and associations which can become affiliate to SBPC. The current president is Dr.

Ennio Candotti Ennio Candotti (12 February 1942 – 6 December 2023) was a Brazilian physicist and scientific leader. Biography Born in Rome, Italy, he studied physics at the University of São Paulo, in São Paulo, from 1960 to 1964, and also at the Univers ...

, a

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

. Honour presidents are

Aziz Ab'Sáber Aziz Nacib Ab'Sáber (; October 24, 1924 – March 16, 2012) was a geographer and one of Brazil's most respected scientists, honored with the highest awards of Brazilian science in geography, geology, ecology and archaeology. Graduated in ge ...

Crodowaldo Pavan Crodowaldo Pavan (; 1 December 1919 – 3 April 2009) was a Brazilian biologist and geneticist, and a scientific leader in Brazil. Early life Pavan was born to a family of second-generation immigrants from Italy in 1919, in the city of Campinas, ...

José Goldemberg José Goldemberg (born in Santo Ângelo, May 27, 1928) is a Brazilian physicist, university educator, scientific leader and research scientist. He is a leading expert on energy and environment issues. Goldemberg earned his Ph.D. in physical scienc ...

José Leite Lopes José Leite Lopes (October 28, 1918 – June 12, 2006) was a Brazilian theoretical physicist who worked in the field of quantum field theory and particle physics. Life Leite Lopes began his university studies in 1935, enrolling in industrial che ...

Oscar Sala Oscar Sala (born March 26, 1922, in Milan, Italy, d. January 2, 2010 in São Paulo, Brazil), Italian-Brazilian nuclear physicist and important scientific leader, Emeritus Professor of the Institute of Physics, University of São Paulo. Early life ...

Ricardo de Carvalho Ferreira Ricardo is the Spanish and Portuguese cognate of the name Richard. It derived from Proto-Germanic ''*rīks'' 'king, ruler' + ''*harduz'' 'hard, brave'. It may be a given name, or a surname. People Given name * Ricardo de Araújo Pereira (born 1 ...

Sérgio Henrique Ferreira Sérgio Henrique Ferreira (October 4, 1934 – July 17, 2016) was a Brazilian physician and pharmacologist noted for the discovery of the bradykinin potentiating factor, which led to new and widely used anti-hypertension drugs — the ACE inhibi ...

and

Warwick Estevam Kerr Warwick Estevam Kerr (9 September 1922 – 15 September 2018) was a Brazilian agricultural engineer, geneticist, entomologist, professor and scientific leader, notable for his discoveries in the genetics and sex determination of bees. The Afric ...

. SBPC's first flagship publication was ''

Ciência e Cultura ''Ciência e Cultura'' is a science magazine published by the ''Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science'' (Sociedade Brasileira para o Progresso da Ciência, SBPC). The magazine is published three times a year. History The magazine was ...

'' (Science and Culture), started in 1951 under the editorship of Dr. José Reis, a respected biomedical scientist and the dean of popularization of science in Brazil (there is a National Award conceded by the National Council for Research and Technological Development to the best science writers and projects on

public understanding of science ''Public Understanding of Science'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal established in 1992 and published by SAGE Publications. It covers topics in the popular perception of science, the role of science in society, philosophy of scienc ...

named after him). The journal's ambition was to be like ''

Science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

'', AAAS' scientific publication. The greatest endeavour of SBPC has been the organization of yearly scientific conferences at national and regional level, since its year of birth, and without interruption. In the 1970s, during the oppression of

civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties of ...

by the military regime, these conferences became an important public forum for discussion of issues on political freedom, since they were more or less left alone by the military repression apparatus, which acted hugely and mercilessly against mass media communication, student, workers and political organizations. The first conference was held in

Campinas Campinas (, ''Plains'' or ''Meadows'') is a Brazilian Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in São Paulo (state), São Paulo State, part of the country's Southeast Region, Brazil, Southeast Region. According to the 2020 estimate, the city's popul ...

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, in 1949 and had 104 participants. In the next meetings, in

Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Southern Brazil. The city's population was 1,773,718 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the larg ...

(1950) and

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte is the List of largest cities in Brazil, sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population of around 2.3 million, and the third largest metropolitan area, containing a population of 6 million. It is the List of cities in Sout ...

(1951), increasing participation and enthusiasm followed, with the

Brazilian Academy of Sciences Brazilian commonly refers to: * Brazil, a country * Brazilians, its people * Brazilian Portuguese, its dialect Brazilian may also refer to: * "The Brazilian", a 1986 instrumental music piece by Genesis * Brazilian Café, Baghdad, Iraq (1937) * Bra ...

first involvement, as well as of other scientific societies. Another significant publications are ''Jornal da Ciência'' (Science Newspaper), a daily news email service, site and printed publication; and '' ComCiência'', an on-line scientific journalism review, edited by the Laboratory of Advanced Studies of Journalism (Labjor) of the

State University of Campinas The University of Campinas (), commonly called Unicamp, is a public research university in the state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Brazil. Established in 1962, Unicamp was designed from scratch as an integrated Research institute, researc ...

. SBPC has spawned a number of initiatives with the objective of popularizing science and serving

science education Science education is the teaching and learning of science to school children, college students, or adults within the general public. The field of science education includes work in science content, science process (the scientific method), some ...

. One of them is the ''Instituto Ciência Hoje'' (Science Today Institute), a not-for-profit non-governmental organization of public interest. ICH publishes ''Ciência Hoje'' magazine since 1982, ''Ciência Hoje das Crianças'' (Children's Science Today) since 1986, and a series of complementary didactic books for schools titled ''Ciência Hoje na Escola'' (Science Today at the School) since 1996. Since 1997, the Institute also maintains an Internet site, "Ciência Hoje On-line".

Bibliography

* Fernandes, A.M. A construção da ciência no Brasil e a SBPC: Editora da UnB/CNPq/ANPOCS., Brasília, 1990. (In Portuguese)

Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it, with more than 150 Nobel Pri ...

)
''Ciência Hoje On-Line''
A Web site devoted to the popularization of science.
''Ciência Hoje para Crianças''
a magazine with science subjects for school-age children and adolescents.

Bibliography

External links

See also