Physics with Martins and Me: Memories of the History and Work of Pierre Lucie (1917-2017)

On May 31, 1946, a young French engineer named Pierre Henri Lucie landed in the port of Rio de Janeiro from a war-torn Europe in search of a better life. After a modest start as a truck driver and assembler of radios, he was discovered by other compatriots who invited him to teach mathematics and physics in colleges and preparatory courses for college entrance exams. In the first years of teaching Pierre began to excel, developing a didactic and a love for teaching that are still difficult to find today. He participated in many projects and proposals for the improvement of physics teaching, especially Physics with Martins and Me, his textbook for high school, written in late 1969 and early 1970. The book was born of a joke with the cartoonist Henrique de Souza Filho (Henfil), the comic book of physics. This work is a simple tribute to the memory of this important educator in the centenary year of his birth, also an opportunity to analyze his book. Physics with Martins and Me surprises by its avant-garde stance. Many criteria demanded today by the National Textbook Program (PNLD) and other legislations for high school appear on its pages. The book is filled with textual genre comics, as well as a very well written text that seeks a constant dialogue with the reader, inviting him to reflection and experimentation.

Keywords:
History of Science; Didactic Book; Pierre Lucie