[Southern skies, social storms and pestilences: astronomy and meteorology in Argentine parliamentary debates,1869-1872]. / Cielos australes, tormentas sociales y pestilencias: astronomía y meteorología en el debate parlamentario argentino, 1869-1872.

From 1869 to 1872, there was debate about bills to create the Observatorio Nacional Argentino and the Oficina Meteorológica Argentina. The proposed funding for these new national institutions, as well as their connection to public policies, were riven by conflicts inherent to that phase of the construction of the State. Some sectors opposed the bills before the Congreso Nacional, arguing that resources were scarce. President Domingo Sarmiento charged that they were allies of the previous government, which he described as "barbarous." This article shows that the bills' supporters stressed that they were low-cost. They achieved passage of the bills by linking their discourse with contemporary policies aimed at other concerns, such as education, immigration and epidemics.

Cielos australes, tormentas sociales y pestilencias: astronomía y meteorología en el debate parlamentario argentino, 1869-1872 / Southern skies, social storms and pestilences: astronomy and meteorology in Argentine parliamentary debates,1869-1872

Resumen Entre 1869 y 1872 se debatieron los proyectos de creación del Observatorio Nacional Argentino y de la Oficina Meteorológica Argentina. Las propuestas de financiamiento de nuevas instituciones nacionales, así como su articulación con las políticas públicas, estaban atravesadas por conflictos propios de la etapa de construcción del Estado. Oponiéndose a los proyectos elevados al Congreso Nacional, algunos sectores argumentaban recursos escasos. El presidente, Domingo Sarmiento, los acusaba de ser aliados de un gobierno anterior, considerado como "bárbaro". No obstante, mostraremos que quienes defendían los proyectos, consideraban también inadmisible un gasto elevado, remarcaban que era poco y lograban su aprobación articulando el discurso con políticas entonces en curso que apuntaban a otras inquietudes como la educación, la inmigración y las epidemias.

Abstract From 1869 to 1872, there was debate about bills to create the Observatorio Nacional Argentino and the Oficina Meteorológica Argentina. The proposed funding for these new national institutions, as well as their connection to public policies, were riven by conflicts inherent to that phase of the construction of the State. Some sectors opposed the bills before the Congreso Nacional, arguing that resources were scarce. President Domingo Sarmiento charged that they were allies of the previous government, which he described as "barbarous." This article shows that the bills' supporters stressed that they were low-cost. They achieved passage of the bills by linking their discourse with contemporary policies aimed at other concerns, such as education, immigration and epidemics.

[The Bureau of Longitudes and the founding of the La Plata Observatory in Argentina (1882-1890)]. / El Bureau des Longitudes y la fundación del Observatorio de La Plata en la Argentina (1882-1890).

In 1882, the director of the Córdoba Observatory became involved in a debate over international missions that were observing the transit of Venus across the sun, criticizing them for doing "harm to science, leaving substance aside in search of a shadow." The governor of Buenos Aires province and members of France's Bureau of Longitudes fostered these missions, and the instruments they used would serve in the founding of the local observatory in La Plata. The Córdoba observatory's second director would later state that the work carried out in La Plata had been as useful as "a single well bucket in irrigating the area covered by Córdoba's canals." The article reveals the hidden rivalry between international networks engaged in mutual accusations and the ensuing disputes between institutions.

El Bureau des Longitudes y la fundación del Observatorio de La Plata en la Argentina (1882-1890) / The Bureau of Longitudes and the founding of the La Plata Observatory in Argentina (1882-1890)

En 1882, el director del Observatorio de Córdoba, Argentina, se involucró en un debate sobre misiones internacionales que observaban el pasaje de Venus por delante del Sol, criticándolas por causar un "perjuicio a la ciencia, dejando la sustancia en busca de una sombra". El gobernador de la provincia de Buenos Aires y miembros del Bureau des Longitudes de Francia impulsaban las misiones; los instrumentos utilizados servirían para la fundación de otro observatorio local en La Plata. El segundo director del observatorio cordobés diría que los trabajos realizados en La Plata tenían tanta utilidad como "un solo pozo de balde en la irrigación de la zona recorrida por los canales de Córdoba". Se mostrará la competencia entre redes de trabajo internacionales oculta detrás de estas acusaciones y las consecuentes disputas interinstitucionales.

In 1882, the director of the Córdoba Observatory became involved in a debate over international missions that were observing the transit of Venus across the sun, criticizing them for doing "harm to science, leaving substance aside in search of a shadow." The governor of Buenos Aires province and members of France's Bureau of Longitudes fostered these missions, and the instruments they used would serve in the founding of the local observatory in La Plata. The Córdoba observatory's second director would later state that the work carried out in La Plata had been as useful as "a single well bucket in irrigating the area covered by Córdoba's canals." The article reveals the hidden rivalry between international networks engaged in mutual accusations and the ensuing disputes between institutions.