Brotéria and the Popularization of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Portugal, 1907–24

Abstract

Brotéria was founded in 1902 as a taxonomy journal of a small Jesuit college in the interior of Portugal. Because the revenue from individual subscriptions was insufficient to cover the costs of publication, Joaquim da Silva Tavares decided to create a magazine in 1907 called Vulgarização científica, which became very popular. Especially designed to make a profit, the journal published more than 450 articles on agriculture, commerce, industry, chemistry, physics, medicine, and hygiene until 1924, and played a very significant role in disseminating knowledge of these subjects to a non-specialist Portuguese readership.