This article discusses the role of the journal, Revista Politécnica in the creation of an idea of science in São Paulo during the first republican period in Brazil. Published by the students of the Escola Politécnica de São Paulo (São Paulo Polytechnic), which went through upheavals in its formative years, the periodical became a vehicle for the promotion and communication of an idea of science amongst the São Paulo elites at the time. It not only assured the institution a prominent position in the state, but also helped its consolidation as a national center of science, as opposed, for instance, to its main competitor, the Escola Politécnica do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro Polytechnic).
science; science communication; politics; institutions; Brazil