Chemistry International
Vol. 22, No. 4
July 2000
Chemistry in Argentina
This article was contributed by Prof. Máximo Barón (Facultad
de Ciências Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Belgrano, Villanueva
1324, 1426 Buenos Aires, Argentina; E-mail: [email protected];
Tel.: +54 11 4511 4700; Fax: +54 11 4821 4887), Titular Member of IUPAC's
Macromolecular Division Committee and Secretary of the Commission on
Macromolecular Nomenclature (IV.1).
Introduction
Pre-19th Century Chemistry
From Self-Rule and Independence to Political Strife:
1810 to 1875
Industry, Teaching, and Research:
1875-1935
The Era of Expansion: 19361975
Last Quarter of the 20th Century
2000 and Beyond
Introduction
In attempting to weave the tale of chemistry in Argentina, the main
problem is the choice of an adequate frame of reference. Of the many
possibilities, I have favored a historical approach; because science
and technology are essentially historical processes, it seems to be
the most appropriate choice. Therefore, this tale is divided into periods
of varying length of time that I hope will give a clear picture of
how chemistry activities today in Argentina came into being.
Pre-19th Century Chemistry
To establish the exact limits of chemistry's past in the area
that is now Argentina is not an easy task, because the temptation to
link this activity to Europeans, though understandable, is not fair.
Although the indigenous population was not large by the time Europeans
arrived in the 2nd and 3 rd decades of the 16th century, the central
and northern parts of the territory were provinces of the Inca empire.
It is well known that the Incas were quite proficient in a number of
activities related to chemistry, such as metallurgy, textile dyeing,
pottery, etc. However, what could be called "the Argentine provinces"
of this empire were actually frontier land and not only quite far from
the center of power but also rather sparsely populated, so not much
manufacturing took place.
Not much changed when the Europeans arrived, and the situation remained
static for more than 200 years, mainly because the central powers in
Spain prevented almost any activity that would imply the possibility
of economic growth through industry or commerce. The few exceptions
included silver and gold mining and some salting of cattle hides that
were sent to the metropolis for tanning and subsequent manufacture of
leather goods.
The large territory that included present-day Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay,
and Argentina was actually divided into four provinces. These regions
were ruled by governors sent by the Spanish crown, with no locally elected
assemblies except small city councils whose members were chosen from
the local Spanish upper class. The first important change came about
in 1776 with the creation of the Viceroyalty of the River Plate. Cities
and provinces thus gained a small measure of self-rule and, as a result,
some important changes started taking place during the last decades
of the 18th century. A printing press, which had belonged to the expelled
Jesuits, was established for printing books - and even the first
newspapers - and some enterprising locally born individuals began
manufacturing goods. A soap-making plant was established within the
city of Buenos Aires, the salting of hides for export became a thriving
activity, some mining started to crop up in the interior provinces,
and winemaking began in the central western region. But there were no
schools in which to learn any trade, and whatever people were able to
do was achieved by direct learning from those who had had some experience
in the "old world" before coming to the colonies. Two of the reasons
the Argentine National Congress of 1816 gave for declaring independence
were the closure, on orders by the Madrid court, of a technical school
opened in Buenos Aires in 1802 and the prohibition on sending young
people to Europe to study chemistry so they could teach it when returning
home. The justification offered by Madrid was that education and travel
were "mere luxury items".
The idea of training young people in chemistry was by no means an idle
thought. Quite to the contrary, as early as 1802, Dr. Cosme Argerich,
a physician born in Buenos Aires who received his doctorate in medicine
at the Royal School of Surgery of Barcelona, started a course in chemistry
under the aegis of a colonial institution, the so-called "Protomedicato".
The institution was responsible for certifying physicians (foreign-trained,
of course) to practice medicine in the territory of the Viceroyalty.
Also, between 1804 and 1806, Buenos Aires-born Hipólito Vieytes,
the man who had started the soap factory, published a newspaper entitled
Semanario de Agricultura, Comercio, e Industria (Agriculture, Commerce,
and Industry Weekly). The publisher devoted many issues to a series
of "Elements of Chemistry". Later, Vieytes became one of the founding
fathers of Argentina, along with Dr. Argerich, who also organized medical
services for the nascent armed forces and subsequently became their
first Surgeon General.
For purposes of this narrative, this early era ended on 25 May 1810
when the vast territory that is now Argentina started on its way toward
self-rule and, ultimately, independence six years later. A long and
bitter war with the metropolis ended only in 1824 on the Peruvian battleground
of Ayacucho, but in the meantime changes gained momentum quite rapidly,
and a new period got underway.
From Self-Rule and Independence to Political
Strife: 1810 to 1875
|
Building that housed the first
chair of chemistry in Argentina (18221835) and the first
School of Chemistry in the University of Buenos Aires (1897).
|
In a land with no industrial tradition, the initial years were very
difficultin large part because the main city, Buenos Aires, was
far from the center of commercial activity, and the seaways were dominated
by European fleets. Some supplies needed for the war of independence
came from abroad, but in the interior provinces - especially Mendoza
- workshops were established to make explosives, forge rifles and guns,
supply ammunition, and provide much of what was needed for the military
expedition across the Andes that José de San Martín started
in January 1817. The war of independence was followed by a long period
of civil strife that drained effort and human resources and stifled
initiative. For a short period in the early 1820s, the situation seemed
to improve, and this period appeared to be the dawn of a new life for
the young country. The University of Buenos Aires was established; courses
in mathematics, physics, and chemistry were taught by capable native
and foreign teachers; and excellent laboratories were available for
experimental work. Chemistry was taught by Dr. Manuel Moreno, then a
recent graduate of the University of Maryland. Physics was in the able
hands of Ottavio F. Mossotti, an Italian physicist and astronomer who
started developing his ideas on dielectric phenomena while teaching
in Buenos Aires. Both teachers had excellent experimental facilities
because the local government had allocated funds upon the founding of
the University of Buenos Aires for the purchase in Europe of two complete
laboratories that were in full operation as early as 1826.
But this brief era of enlightenment was just a spark in the darkness;
after 1835, ruthless internal strife followed for many years. Dawn came
only after 1852 when the country finally got organized constitutionally.
However, during the period between independence and constitutional organization,
some steps were taken in the right direction. Sugar manufacturing was
started in the province of Tucumán around 1821, salting of beef
and hides began under the able supervision of European expert Antonio
Cambaceres, who was hired for this purpose, and work on extraction of
vegetable oils was attempted with some success. In the early 1860s,
despite the bitter war with Paraguay, chemistry started to become a
part of national economic growth. It is interesting to note that the
first patent granted under Law 111 of 1863 was for a soap-making process.
At this time, railroads started to penetrate the interior, and communications
improved in general so that the country was ready for the next period
of progress.
Industry, Teaching, and
Research: 1875 to 1935
This half-century witnessed the economic ascent of Argentina, taking
it from a sparsely populated territory with little industrial activity
to an active and growing society. Chemical enterprises were, of course,
a part of this prosperity, and it is interesting to note the major enterprises.
Industry
The manufacture of carbon black for the sugar industry started in 1874
and in four years generated exports of 6000 tons. Meatpacking began
in 1875 and produced, as a by-product, high-quality gelatin that was
also soon exported. These early endeavors were followed in rapid succession
by the manufacture of tannins, acetic acid from grape alcohol, ethyl
alcohol from molasses, sulfuric acid, soda and potash, glass, carbon
sulfide, hypochlorites, oil refining, nitric and hydrochloric acids,
copper sulfate, and corn products. The 1895 census recorded 317 chemical
plants in Argentina. A serious international financial crisis in the
1890s slowed down the boom in chemical manufacturing; however, it resumed
after the turn of the century, and the 1914 census listed 567 chemical
industries backed by both local and foreign capital. The period through
1935 brought substantial growth in heavy chemicals. The sulfuric acid
(both through lead chambers and catalysis), oxygen and nitrogen, oil
distillation products, pulp and paper, and chlorosoda (via electrolysis)
industries all thrived.
Teaching
|
Prof. John J. Kyle (1838-1922),
director of the first chemistry doctoral thesis in Argentina (1901).
|
The teaching of chemistry became firmly established at the Universities
of Córdoba, Buenos Aires, and La Plata. After several reorganizations,
a school of chemistry was created in 1897 in the Facultad de Ciencias
Exactas, Físicas y Naturales of the University of Buenos Aires,
and it included a doctoral program that produced the first graduates
in 1901. Although the doctoral degree in chemistry was considered essentially
professional, a thesis was the final step and a sine qua non condition.
This dissertation requirement implied the need to do research either
at the university or in one of the national agencies that had laboratories,
such as Obras Sanitarias de la Nación (National Water Works)
or Oficinas Chemistry International, Químicas Nacional y Municipal
(National and Municipal Government Chemists). A similar system developed
about the same time at the University of La Plata and later on with
the creation of the Universities of Tucumán in the center north,
Cuyo in the west, and Litoral on the Paraná River.
Research
During the first two decades of the 20th century, chemical research
started both at Buenos Aires and La Plata under the direction of professors
of inorganic and organic chemistry, and they published their results
both locally and abroad. Such research was essentially limited to the
universities and mostly focused in analytical and organic chemistry,
natural products (vegetable and animal oils), some biochemistry, and
a few attempts at inorganic and physical chemistry. There was no privately
funded basic or applied research. Of particular interest are the contributions
of Enrique V. Zappi (organic chemistry), Horacio Damianovich (one of
the first scientists to obtain derivatives of noble gases), and Alfredo
Sordelli (biochemistry). Toward the end of this period, the Asociación
Argentina para el Progreso de la Ciencia [Argentine Association for
the Advancement of Science (AAPC)]) was founded in Buenos Aires by a
small group of visionary scientists active in physiology, biochemistry,
and organic chemistry. By Law of Congress, the AAPC received a grant
of one million pesos (equivalent to about USD 300 000 at the time) that
was invested, and the revenues were used for scholarships and research
grants. A substantial number of young graduates, who later became prominent
in Argentine science, were able to get their careers started under this
program. This initial government fund was increased in subsequent years,
with donations from private sources (both individual and corporate).
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the AAPC acted as a National Research
Council supporting basic research in fields ranging from pure mathematics
to technological applications. In 1912, the Asociación Química
Argentina [Argentine Chemical Association (AQA)]) was founded in Buenos
Aires and immediately started to publish its scientific journals, Anales
de la Sociedad Química Argentina. Local sections of the AQA soon
opened in other cities, especially in those near chemistry departments
or schools of national universities. Owing to legal requirements, the
name of the journal was later changed to Anales de la Asociación
Química Argentina, and it is now published regularly with papers
in both English and Spanish. A technical information magazine (Industria
y Química) and a bulletin are also published, with the latter
both in print and e-mail editions. The bylaws of the AQA mandated that
a chemistry library be organized and supported, and from a modest beginning
that library has grown into a substantial source of chemical reference
materials. What began as a repository of books and journals (obtained
by exchange) is now a high-tech information center that employs all
modern means to gain access to the many forms of digitalized chemical
information.
The AQA has seven active divisions: Teaching of Chemistry, Industrial
Chemistry, Safety and Health Hazards in the Workplace, Physical Chemistry,
Chromatography, Medicinal Chemistry, and Theoretical Chemistry. The
AQA offers courses on a variety of subjects of interest to industry,
organizes National Chemistry Congresses in alternate years, has an extensive
awards program that includes recipients who range from recent graduates
to distinguished chemists, and has been associated with IUPAC since
1931. By 1935, with the economic crisis of the early 1930s nearly over,
there were enough graduates at work in Argentine chemistry to take an
active part in what was going to develop in the next half century when
chemical industries were established in many regions of the country,
product and process development became more and more frequent in many
large and medium-sized industries, and research - both basic and applied
- started to attract increasing interest.
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