Spanish/Portuguese Scientists and Mathematicians

[Tiago]

In a bar-room debate with a Nordic supermacist friend of mine, he put forward the viewpoint that Iberia had not produced any worthy mathematicians or scientists in the last 300 years. In his defence he was able to site the names of many world-reknown ones from N. and C. Europe as well as French and Italians, but no Spaniards or Portuguese; he had me on the ropes. A brief trawl using google when I got home (a bit drunk) didn't furnish me with any either, so I put the question to Stirpes members: can you name any famous Iberian mathematicians or scientsist of the last 300 years?

[Gil]

I won't point out scientists/mathematicians but in the event of a similar discussion I would point out that if "Iberia" didn't produce scientists/mathematicians for the last 300 years what about the other hundreds of years before that "Germania" or central Europe didn't produce anything but barbaric hordes? Also note that just because one lives in a specific place that does not mean he is indigenous to it, many famous scientists were in fact exiled from their original homelands or just immigrated.

[Carnyx]

On a period of 300 years... But if the racial mixing had really took place in Iberia, as they say, to let the blood of Iberia "spoilted", your land would have not produced mathematicians/scientists over a longer period -not only 300 years.

[Galaico]

It's much more than all this.

In the last 300 years Iberia (Spain in my case) suffered a lot. It all began when the Borbons began to rule Spain and stablished an Absolutist Monarchy where the Catholic Church (which never has been a good friend of scientific advances) had a lot of power, while Protestant North European countries were much more open minded. The Borbons have never really cared for Spain, they are a foreign Royal house that act like foreigners and not like patriots.

In all this period illiterate and ignorant could be a common description for the average Spaniard. The tendency to involve Spain in ridiculous wars to help France (Borbons too), weakened the National Treasure, and converted Spain in a an irrelevant nation just being a French satellite.

In the XIX century, things didn't get better. Spain was invaded by Napoleon, we had the most stupid kings since Charles II (Charles IV, Ferdinand VII, and Elisabeth II), numerous civil wars between Carlist Traditionalists and Liberal Centralists, and a corrupt bi-partidist liberal system that simply didn't work.

In the XX century we were involved in colonial conflicts, had an attempt of Soviet Government and suffered a Civil war. The first real Industrial Revolution in Spain took place under Franco's regime in the 1950's.

We were too busy killing us each other for 300 years to invent anything

[Siegmund]

Originally Posted by Tiago

In a bar-room debate with a Nordic supermacist friend of mine, he put forward the viewpoint that Iberia had not produced any worthy mathematicians or scientists in the last 300 years. In his defence he was able to site the names of many world-reknown ones from N. and C. Europe as well as French and Italians, but no Spaniards or Portuguese; he had me on the ropes. A brief trawl using google when I got home (a bit drunk) didn't furnish me with any either, so I put the question to Stirpes members: can you name any famous Iberian mathematicians or scientsist of the last 300 years?

I seem to run across this question a lot. Here's a partial list of well-known Spanish scientists from the last 300 years:

José María Algué (1856–1930), meteorologist, inventor of the barocyclometer, the nephoscope, and the microseismograph.

Ángel Cabrera (1879–1960), naturalist, investigated the South-American fauna.

Nicolás Cabrera (1913–1989), physicist, did important work on the theories of crystal growth and the oxidisation of metals.

Juan de la Cierva (1895–1936), aeronautical engineer, pioneer of rotary flight, inventor of the autogyro.

Josep Comas i Solá (1868–1937), astronomer, discovered the periodic comet 32P/Comas Solá and 11 asteroids, and in 1907 observed limb darkening of Saturn's moon Titan (the first evidence that the body had an atmosphere).

Fausto de Elhúyar (1755–1833), chemist, joint discoverer of tungsten with his brother Juan José de Elhúyar in 1783.

Jaime Ferrán (1852–1929), doctor and researcher, discovered several vaccines.

Manuel Jalón Corominas (b. 1925), inventor of a world-wide used "two-piece" disposable syringe (1978).

Carlos Jiménez Díaz (1898–1967), doctor and researcher, leading figure in pathology.

Gregorio Marañón (1887–1960), doctor and researcher, leading figure in endocrinology.

Narcís Monturiol (1818–1885), physicist and inventor, pioneer of underwater navigation and first machine powered submarine.

José Celestino Bruno Mutis (1732–1808), botanicist, doctor, philosopher and mathematician, carried out relevant research about the American flora, founded one of the first astronomic observatories in America (1762).

Severo Ochoa (1905–1993), doctor and biochemist, achieved the synthesis of ribonucleic acid (RNA), Nobel prize Laureate (1959).

Mateu Orfila (1787–1853), doctor and chemist, father of modern toxicology, leading figure in forensic toxicology.

Joan Oró (1923–2004), biochemist, carried out important research about the origin of life, he worked with NASA on the Viking missions.

Julio Palacios Martínez (1891–1970), physicist and mathematician.

Isaac Peral (1851–1895), engineer and sailor, designer of the first fully operative military submarine.

Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852–1934), father of Neuroscience, Nobel prize Laureate (1906).

Julio Rey Pastor (1888–1962), mathematician, leading figure in geometry.

Andrés Manuel del Río (1764–1849), geologist and chemist, discovered vanadium (as vanadinite) in 1801.

Pío del Río Hortega (1882–1945), neuroscientist, discoverer of the microglia or Hortega cell.

Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente (1928–1980), naturalist, leading figure in ornithology, ethology, ecology and science divulgation.

Margarita Salas (born 1938), biochemist, molecular genetist and researcher.

Esteban Terradas i Illa (1883–1950), mathematician, physicist and engineer.

Leonardo Torres y Quevedo (1852–1936), engineer and mathematician, pioneer of automated calculation machines, inventor of "automatic chess," pioneer of remote control, designer of the funicular over the Niagara Falls.

Josep Trueta (1897–1977), doctor, his new method for treatment of open wounds and fractures helped save a great number of lives during WW2.

Antonio de Ulloa (1716–1795), scientist, soldier and author; joint discoverer of element platinum with Jorge Juan y Santacilia (1713–1773).

[Milesian]

Originally Posted by Galaico

the Catholic Church (which never has been a good friend of scientific advances)

A modern myth. The Church has promoted learning and scientific progress for millenia, sponsering universities and other centres of learning. In fact, for a long period it was the only place where learning had been preserved.
The Catholic, Gutenberg, first developed the printing press and immediately put it to use by printing indulgences for the Church, and in the process revolutionised literacy and education. The Church also encouraged Copernicus, who was a Catholic priest himself and it sheltered Kepler from persecution from others. Despite the run-ins between Gailleo and the Church ( one non-Catholic historian admitted - "The Church had the best of it"), it was the endorsement of it's hierarchy which pushed through publication of his work after his death. Of course, not only the Catholic Church produced scientific genuises. Where would modern medicine be without the Orthodox clergyman, Mendeleev - father of genetics?

Church encouragement of valid scientific progress has come right from the very top -

Apply yourselves energetically to the study of natural sciences: the brilliant discoveries and the bold and useful applications of them made in our times which have won such applause by our contemporaries will be an object of perpetual praise for those that come after us (Leo XIII. Alloc., March 7, 1880).

It is little wonder though that despite the facts,centuries of propoganda led Popes to issue exasperated statements such as the one below:

To bring contempt and odium on the mystic Spouse of Christ, who is the true light, the children of darkness have been wont to cast in her face before the world a stupid calumny, and perverting the meaning and force of things and words, to depict her as the friend of darkness and ignorance, and the enemy of light, science, and progress (Motu-proprio, Ut mysticum, 14 March, 1891

[Tiago]

Thanks for all your suggestions; now I have some ammunition for my next debate. However, I feel that unless I can name a Spanish or Portuguese Liebniz, Newton, Galois or Fermi he will not be satisfied, so maybe I am wasting my time.

[Siegmund]

Originally Posted by Siegmund

Antonio de Ulloa (1716–1795), scientist, soldier and author; joint discoverer of element platinum with Jorge Juan y Santacilia (1713–1773).

Today, coincidentally, is his birthday:

Antonio de Ulloa (Born 12 Jan 1716; died 5 Jul 1795)
Spanish scientist and naval officer who discovered the element platinum (atomic number 78). In 1735, the French and Spanish governments sent an scientific expedition to Peru and Equador to measure a degree of meridian at Quinto, close to the equator. Ulloa was one of the officers appointed to take charge of the expedition. In 1744, the ship on which he returned was captured by the British, and he was taken prisoner, though treated respectfully by the English naval officers for they "were not at war with the arts and sciences." The log of his voyage to Peru published in 1748 contains a description of platinum. He established the first museum of natural history and the first metallurgical laboratory in Spain, as well as the Cadiz observatory.

[Source]

Originally Posted by Tiago

Thanks for all your suggestions; now I have some ammunition for my next debate. However, I feel that unless I can name a Spanish or Portuguese Liebniz, Newton, Galois or Fermi he will not be satisfied, so maybe I am wasting my time.

I would agree, but not for the reason you mention. Ideological arguments are seldom won or lost based on specific facts.

[Breogan]

Originally Posted by Tiago

In a bar-room debate with a Nordic supermacist friend of mine, he put forward the viewpoint that Iberia had not produced any worthy mathematicians or scientists in the last 300 years.

Just tell him to study History (not just white-history ), although in his case I suppose there is nothing to do, his decimononic history is as biased as an afrocentrist one.

Besides one must be very careful with scientific inventions. By example Did Alva Edison make so many inventions or just take any from Tesla, and so on.

[Breogan]

Just one example:

More to come.

"A Galician invented the calculator". Ramón Verea (1833-1899)
His machine is held in IBM headquaters. It multiples and divides automatically.

REPORTAJE | LA APASIONANTE VIDA DE RAMON VEREA
Un gallego inventó la calculadora ("A Galician invented the calculator")
:: 30/12/2004
En los depósitos de la sede central de la IBM, en White Plains (Nueva York), se custodia una extraña y antigua máquina construida en 1878 y que resulta ser la primera calculadora capaz de multiplicar y dividir de manera automática.

muestra("baner");
(Xaime Mariño) La valiosa pieza forma parte de la colección particular iniciada en 1930 por Thomas J. Watson Sr., presidente fundador de la IBM, quien ya entonces intuía que aquel artilugio formaba parte de la prehistoria de la computación.

La Calculating Machine nº3 pesa 22 kilogramos, está hecha de hierro y acero amarillo y tiene un lugar reservado en la historia de la informática, pero debería de tenerlo también en la historia de Galicia, ya que el hombre que la ideó, diseñó, construyó y patentó se llamaba Ramón Verea y era natural de A Estrada.

Ramón Silvestre Verea García nació el 11 de diciembre de 1833 en San Miguel de Curantes (A Estrada). En su infancia asistió a la pequeña escuela parroquial y recibió también lecciones de un tío sacerdote con vistas a estudiar una carrera en Santiago.

En 1847 estudió en Compostela en la facultad de Filosofía y Letras. Se alojaba en una habitación en el número 36 de la Rúa do Franco. Sus más bien pobres calificaciones académicas no anunciaban, desde luego, el gran futuro intelectual que después alcanzó Verea. La nota más alta que figura en su expediente es un «regularmente» y la mayoría de las materias se despachan con un «mal». Quizá por ello dejó la Universidad e ingresó en el seminario, aunque este inquieto personaje tampoco se sentiría cómodo en el, y terminó por abandonar definitivamente los estudios cuando tan sólo tenía veinte años de edad.

Daba comienzo entonces su verdadera aventura vital. Embarcó rumbo a Cuba, que será su primer destino como emigrante. Allí trabaja como maestro, escribe también dos novelas (La cruz de piedra y Una mujer con dos maridos) y ejerce el periodismo en el diario El Progreso de Colón. Tras su periplo cubano, decide trasladarse a Nueva York, ciudad a donde llega con treinta y dos años, en 1865.



«Gangs of New York»

La ciudad en la que desembarca Ramón Verea no es la cosmopolita y elegante Gran Manzana de los años posteriores, sino la caótica amalgama descrita en la película Gangs of New York de Martín Scorsese. En sus calles y en sus tabernas convivía una riada humana en busca de su billete para el sueño americano. Un millón de personas se amontonaban en aquella Nueva York que se reinventaba cada noche, de los cuales más de la mitad eran extranjeros procedentes de todos los rincones del mundo. Durante los treinta años que permaneció allí, Verea vio crecer y definirse a la ciudad. Asistió en directo a lo que él llamaba el «espectáculo del progreso». Eran los años en los que se construía el puente de Brooklyn, llegaba de Francia la Estatua de la Libertad y nacía Central Park.

Mientras aquella sociedad se desarrollaba a gran velocidad, Ramón Verea sentía que España iba en la dirección equivocada. «Demasiados escritores», decía él, «demasiados abogados, lo que necesita una sociedad que quiere ser independiente son ingenieros e inventores». Muchos de sus amigos americanos le reprochaban que los españoles no tenían capacidad de adaptación, que su época había pasado, que no alcanzarían ya el tren del progreso.



Un español también puede inventar

Ramón decide entonces intentar demostrar que «un español puede inventar igual que un americano». Se dedica a su proyecto con pasión y el resultado es que en 1878 recibe la medalla de oro de la Exposición Mundial de Inventos de Cuba, celebrada en Matanzas, por su avanzada máquina de calcular, que supuso una enorme contribución al futuro desarrollo de la computación.

Pascal y Leibniz habían realizado intentos de resolver el problema del cálculo mecánico y muchos otros científicos trabajaron sobre los mismos principios, pero hasta que Ramón Verea creó su máquina no se había conseguido ir más allá de sumar y restar con un sistema lento, cansado y tedioso. La calculadora de este gallego era capaz, además, de multiplicar y dividir, de hacerlo exacta e instantáneamente y de permitir hasta quince cifras en el resultado. Su avance en este campo resulta asombroso e inmenso, y mucho mas teniendo en cuenta que Verea era periodista y escritor y no hombre de ciencia. El Scientific American, el New York Herald y muchos otros medios de comunicación se hicieron amplio eco del invento.

Patentó su máquina el 10 de septiembre de 1878 (patente número 207.918), pero asombrosamente rechazó intentos de comercializarla o de continuar trabajando en ese campo, que le podría haber reportado mucho dinero y reconocimiento, porque, según declaró al Herald: «Sólo me movía el afán de contribuir con algo al avance de la ciencia y un poco de amor propio. Yo soy un periodista y no un científico y, además, lo que yo pretendía demostrar… ya está demostrado».

Sobre la base técnica que propone Verea otros trabajaron con posterioridad, y llegaron máquinas más perfeccionadas como la Millionaire de Steiger, de la que se vendieron miles y miles de unidades, todas deudoras del método y del camino abierto por este ilustre hijo de A Estrada. El desarrollo del comercio era imposible de controlar a mano y las empresas demandaban todo tipo de mejoras.



Hombre honrado y pobrísimo

Ramón Verea falleció en Buenos Aires el 6 de febrero de 1899. El diario El Eco de Galicia, editado en esa ciudad, le dedicó un sentido artículo en el que se destacaba su honradez y su extrema pobreza: «La Asistencia Pública recogió el cadáver y, practicada la autopsia, resulta que el fallecimiento es debido a una afección pulmonar. (…) El sepelio tuvo lugar ante muy regular concurrencia».

Verea murió solo y fue enterrado en un panteón anónimo del cementerio del Oeste. Su máquina fue superada y mejorada y hoy duerme su sueño en un tranquilo sótano, olvidada por casi todos. También el nombre de su creador fue cayendo en el olvido y ha quedado reducido a los manuales especializados.

Quizás la próxima vez que usemos una calculadora en el trabajo o veamos cómo lo hacen nuestros hijos cuando estudian, no podamos evitar recordar por un instante a este gallego apasionado y heterodoxo.

http://www.lavozdegalicia.es/reporta...O=100000061134

[Señor Malo]

Originally Posted by Milesian

A modern myth. The Church has promoted learning and scientific progress for millenia,

Don't tell that to Galileo, Kopernik or poor Giordano Bruno!

[Señor Malo]

Other Spanic (either from Spain or from latin America) inventors and scientists:
Luis Agote (22 sept 1868-nov 12 1954), from Argentina; considered by many as co-discoverer together with the belgian Albert Hustin of the sodium citrate as anticoagulant, used to preserve blood for indirect transfusion . Both researchers might have made the discovery working independently and with no connection
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_citrate

Francisco Romero from Barcelona, Spain
the first one to suceed in a pericardial operation, cc1801
http://ats.ctsnetjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/64/3/870


Narciso Monturiol, Spanish catalan (1819-1886)
Designed and build a serie of steam engine powered submarines called the "Ictinios" which inspired in part Jules Verne's Nautilus submarine from his great novel "20 000 leagues under the sea"

http://inventors.about.com/od/hispan...soMonturio.htm

Raul Pescara (argentine, later naturalized spanish)
Credited by some authors to be among the first to have identified the auto-rotation phenomenum and to have built the first pilotable helicopter in 1924.

bellow; a french website (for french pseakers) crediting Pescara's merits and the importance of murcian (Spain) engineer De la Cierva whose "autogiros" are considered as the actual precursor of helicopter and another site in english with a well developped history of the helicopter, giving credits to both Pescara & De la Cierva:
http://pdennez.free.fr/HISTOIRE/html/hist017.html
http://www.enae.umd.edu/AGRC/Aero/history.html

[Milesian]

Originally Posted by searcher of truth

Don't tell that to Galileo,

Originally Posted by The Gallileo Affair

Since the Galileo case is one of the historical bludgeons that are used to beat on the Church--the other two being the Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition--it is important that Catholics understand exactly what happened between the Church and that very great scientist. A close look at the facts puts to rout almost every aspect of the reigning Galileo legend.

The Victorian biologist Thomas Henry Huxley, who had no brief for Catholicism, once examined the case and concluded that "the Church had the best of it." The most striking point about the whole affair is that until Galileo forced the issue into the realm of theology, the Church had been a willing ombudsman for the new astronomy. It had encouraged the work of Copernicus and sheltered Kepler against the persecutions of Calvinists. Problems only arose when the debate went beyond the mere question of celestial mechanics

Originally Posted by searcher of truth

Kopernik

Originally Posted by The Gallileo Affair

in fact, Copernicus, a good Catholic, published his book at the urging of two eminent prelates and dedicated it to Pope Paul III, who received it cordially.

or poor Giordano Bruno!

Bruno was the worst, I'll get back to him when I have time.



http://www.catholic.net/rcc/Periodic...leoAffair.html

[Milesian]

Bruno was never in trouble for the Church for his philosphy or defence of Copernicanism but for his repeated attacks against the Church. He left his religious order and became a Calvinist before being excommunicated by them. Then he went to Queen Elizabeth I and England where he wrote some Anti-Catholic books attacking the Catholic Church further,