Article ID: CBB001320572

From Papers to Newspapers: Miguel Masriera (1901--1981) and the Role of Science Popularization under the Franco Regime (2013)

unapi

Nieto-Galan, Agustí (Author)


Science in Context
Volume: 26
Pages: 527--549


Publication Date: 2013
Edition Details: Part of the special supplement “Communicating Science: National Approaches in Twentieth-Century Europe”.
Language: English

This paper analyzes the political dimension of Miguel Masriera's (1901-1981) science popularization program. In the 1920s, Masriera worked at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich - with Hermann Staudinger, the luminary of polymer chemistry - to later become a lecturer of theoretical and physical chemistry at the University of Barcelona. After living in exile in Paris, at the end of the Civil War he returned to Spain but never recovered his position. Instead, Masriera became an active popular science writer and adapted to the severe constraints of General Franco's military dictatorship (1939-1975). Inspired by the astronomer Arthur Eddington's world view, Masriera wrote and translated popular science books, and published articles in daily newspapers and journals. By examining Masriera's popular works, in particular his program for spreading "atomic culture" in Spain during the Cold War, this paper aims to contribute to the assessment of the role of science popularization in the domestic legitimization of that dictatorial regime and also its use as a vehicle for international recognition abroad.

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Article Schirrmacher, Arne (2013) Introduction: Communicating Science: National Approaches in Twentieth-Century Europe. Science in Context (p. 393). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001320572/

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Authors & Contributors
Dunne, Matthew W.
Zeman, Scott C.
Wood, James Robert
Wolfe, Audra Jayne
Wigelsworth, Jeffrey Robert
Thurs, Daniel Patrick
Concepts
Popularization
Public understanding of science
Science and culture
Popular culture
Science and society
Periodicals; serials
Time Periods
20th century
19th century
20th century, late
18th century
20th century, early
Enlightenment
Places
United States
Soviet Union
Barcelona (Spain)
London (England)
Spain
Russia
Institutions
Genetics Society of America
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