These two men were former natural philosophy students from the University of Coimbra. Barbacena finished in 1775 and obtained a doctorate in 1776, whereas Maciel graduated in 1785 and then did scientific and industrial work in Portugal and England. The Viscount was a founder member of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences in 1779, and its secretary for 9 years. Both came to Brazil in 1788, when the Viscount was named Governor of Minas Gerais. Insofar as gold production was falling drastically, the Governor-to-be saw in Maciel the right person to start a comprehensive survey of the mineral potential of his domain. Soon after their arrival their lives parted. Without leaving his scientific pursuits, Maciel became embroiled in the planned uprising known as Inconfidência Mineira and was arrested in late 1789. His promising scientific career was aborted at the age of 29 and he was sentenced to exile in Africa. His despondency contributed to an early death at 43. The Viscount’s fate is also gloomy, for in Brazil he is hardly remembered today for any devotion to science, but mainly as the harsh persecutor of patriots.
Keywords:
Viscount of Barbacena; Álvares Maciel; eighteenth-century science; science and politics; Inconfidência
