Paper short abstract:

Departing from the theoretical approach and the methodology of the History of Sciences, this paper analyzes information about the nature based on historical sources about the 18th century's Brazil. Our objective is to understand how were the Brazilian fauna and flora observed, described, cataloged and inserted inside the Enlightenment's paradigm.

Paper long abstract:

If during the early days of Portuguese colonization of Brazil the interest of travelers, missionaries and plantation owners was for the sake of survival, the territory's recognition, at the eighteenth century under the influence of the Enlightenment their perception became a way to assist the crown in the investigation of the potential of overseas territories in order to improve an organized and systematic exploitation. A carefully examination made over the historical sources about the Brazil's natural environment produced by Europeans during this period can help us to a better understanding the processes of recognition of the nature's potential which could be useful for both economy and science. Thus, historical sources containing descriptions and observations of nature are fundamental resources to relevant empirical studies within the field of Colonial History and History of Science. That includes pertinent historical aspects to the study of the Portuguese Enlightenment, circulation of knowledge in the Portuguese empire and the importance of colony's biodiversity and natural heritage to the strategic issues of imperial expansion and colonization. We intend in this paper to analyze such historical sources with an interdisciplinary approach, deriving from the theoretical and methodological approach of the History of Science. Therefore, this paper aims to understand how were the Brazilian fauna and flora observed, described, cataloged and inserted inside the Enlightenment's paradigm. It also seeks to discuss how such observations may have influenced the construction of knowledge about the natural world.