Book chronicles the progress of science in São Paulo and the origins of FAPESP

Circa 1962 has been launched to commemorate FAPESP’s 50th anniversary, telling the story of São Paulo’s scientists in the decades leading up to its creation.

By Karina Toledo 

Agência FAPESP – Circa 1962: A Ciência Paulista nos Primórdios da FAPESP (“Circa 1962: Science in São Paulo State in the Beginnings of FAPESP”), a book by journalist Mônica Teixeira, was officially launched at a ceremony held on July 1 at the headquarters of the São Paulo State Research Foundation (FAPESP) in Brazil.

The idea of a book chronicling science in São Paulo in the decades that preceded the structuring of the state’s research funding system was born in 2012, during the commemorations of FAPESP’s Golden Jubilee.

“The main document used was a report produced by Warwick Kerr when he was FAPESP’s scientific director. Besides listing all the applications approved by FAPESP in the first year of its existence, Kerr painted a portrait of contemporary science in São Paulo, and it was relatively easy to take up the story where he left off,” Teixeira said.

She read all of the annual reports produced by FAPESP and dossiers containing grant applications from researchers, including detailed rationales for their projects. She also interviewed some 40 scholars who received funding in the 1960s.

Newspapers and magazines from the period were another key source of information, including articles about equipment purchases and scientific events as well as about conflicts among managers of São Paulo State’s higher education and research institutions. The book is lavishly illustrated with images and photographs provided by universities and other institutions. The iconographic research was coordinated by Vladimir Sacchetta, and the book was designed by Hélio de Almeida.

The foreword by Celso Lafer, President of FAPESP, recalls that the seed of the foundation’s creation was sown in 1947, when the scientific community successfully lobbied the São Paulo State Assembly to include a clause (Article 123), requiring the state government to fund scientific research through an autonomous foundation with a budget of transfers from tax receipts, in the state’s new constitution.

It was not until 1960, however, that Governor Carlos Alberto de Carvalho Pinto signed the law that established FAPESP (Law 5918), and another two years passed before the foundation was up and running.

“Governor Carvalho Pinto’s importance should be stressed,” Lafer told Agência FAPESP. “He had the foresight to realize how significant the institution would be. He took the idea framed by the state’s constitution and gave final form to the law and charter that created FAPESP.”

Carvalho Pinto’s innovative approach to research funding was possible only because science in São Paulo had built up a critical mass in the previous three decades, Lafer believes.

“While it’s true that FAPESP’s origins lie in the University of São Paulo’s research funds during World War II and the interaction between members of the scientific community and state lawmakers, it’s equally important to note that years later, when the foundation was finally set up, the density of research had reached a far higher level than at the time of its conception. The research done for the book found some highly interesting information about the main science hubs of the day and why they played a role in this initial structuring of FAPESP,” Lafer said during the book launch ceremony, which was also attended by Carlos Vogt, a former president of FAPESP, as well as by board member José de Souza Martins, former board member Vahan Agopyan, Administrative Director Joaquim José de Camargo Engler, and former CEO José Arana Varela.

Lafer stressed that FAPESP is the fruit of all of the collaborative work done by the many people who devoted themselves to the institution over the years, and not the result of individual efforts. For him, FAPESP has prospered because it has always had the support of the entire scientific and academic community. 

“I think it’s worth quoting the great Greek historian Polybius, who said the beginning is not merely half of the whole but exercises its influence up to the very end. FAPESP was well designed and well structured from the start by its very first leaders. That’s why it has succeeded in accumulating results throughout its existence,” Lafer said. 

International connections

In the opinion of FAPESP’s Scientific Director, Carlos Henrique de Brito Cruz, public support for the creation of a research funding agency was strong in São Paulo because the scientific and academic community saw the importance of such agencies for promoting science at the world’s leading research centers.

One of the interesting aspects of São Paulo’s science in the earliest days of FAPESP, according to Brito Cruz, was how internationally connected the few researchers in the state were at that time. Global networking helped the development of science in São Paulo to get off to a strong start.

“For example, the book tells the story of a young researcher at the University of São Paulo called Sonja Ashauer, who went to Cambridge, England, in the 1940s to do a PhD with Paul Dirac, one of the greatest physicists of his day and a world pioneer in quantum mechanics,” Brito Cruz said.

Over the years, these international connections declined, reaching a very low level, but cross-border networking among scientists has recently increased again, partly thanks to FAPESP’s efforts to encourage international collaboration.

“This is very important because science advances most when the most capable scientists are involved,” Brito Cruz said. “The paramount challenge for the future is to insert São Paulo’s scientists into collaborations with the best in the world to produce high-impact science that enhances human knowledge and furthers the social and economic development of São Paulo State.”

For Marco Antônio Zago, President of the University of São Paulo (USP) and one of the scholars interviewed, the book is striking for showing, among other aspects, how the state’s science and technology system has grown since the 1960s. 

“In those days, FAPESP’s scientific director dealt personally with every single project. I myself was called in when my first project was approved because he wanted to meet me face to face. That would be unthinkable today, of course,” Zago said.

According to statistical data analyzed in the book, in 1962, FAPESP allocated 350 million cruzeiros (Brazil’s currency at the time) to support 344 projects involving 700 researchers, out of a total of 507 applications received. In the Golden Jubilee year, applications for grants and scholarships totaled 9,345, and for the first time, FAPESP’s investment to support research in São Paulo exceeded 1 billion reals, which was about 80 times more than in 1962.  

Circa 1962: A Ciência Paulista nos Primórdios da FAPESP 
Author: Mônica Teixeira 
Publication date: 2015 
Pages: 240 
To read the book online, visit www.fapesp.br/publicacoes/circa (in Portuguese)