A 18$^{th}$ century thermometer recipe: The begin of experimental physics courses in Guadalajara, M\'{e}xico?

ORAL

Abstract

As a part of the Special Funds Collection of the Jalisco's State Public Library ``Juan Jos\'{e} Arreola'' is a physics course manuscript attributed to Francisco Javier Clavigero s.j. (1731-1787), teacher at the Jesuit \textit{Colegio de Santo Tom\'{a}s} (a college-level institution in Guadalajara before the university opening), inside of the vellum bounded volume is a unbounded folio containing instructions on how to build a thermometer. In this work are discussed some evidences of the belonging of such folio to the manuscript in spite of their differences (it is written in Spanish not in Latin as the whole), we also describe the process to construct the thermometer and how could be the experimental part of the physics course. Also is briefly exposed the importance of the educational role of Clavigero as a builder of the concept of \textit{mexicanity}.

Authors

  • Durruty Jesus de Alba Martinez

    Universidad de Guadalajara, CUCEI, Instituto de Astronomia y Meteorologia