Abstract

RUIZ-CASTELL, Pedro. José M. Melià Bernabéu "Pygmalion" and the teaching of astronomy in Valencia in the first half of the 20th century. Dynamis [online]. 2017, vol.37, n.2, pp.435-457. ISSN 2340-7948.

José M. Melià Bernabéu, also known as «Pygmalion», was a Valencian author famed for his work on the popularization of science, particularly astronomy. Pigmalión was convinced of the importance of education and of the social task that the study and observation of the heavens could fulfil. He therefore devoted himself to intense activity designed to popularize scientific knowledge, including the publication of press articles and books and the delivery of lectures and radio addresses. This paper analyses these initiatives in order to reveal the complex process of science communication and the main characteristics of a set of practices in which apparently contradictory strategies converged and that were carried out so successfully in Spain during the first half of the 20th century.

Keywords : history of astronomy; science in the public sphere; popularization of science; twentieth century; Spain.

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