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Centre for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, Faculty of Science and Technology, New University of Lisbon, 2825-114 Monte de Caparica, Portugal (e-mail: amoc{at}netcabo.pt)
The Geological Survey of Portugal (Comissão dos Serviços Geológicos), was created in 1857, as a section of the Geodesic Division of the Ministry of Public Works, Trade and Industry. It benefited greatly from the workings of the ministry, which in trying to modernize the country was concerned to keep up with the latest technical and scientific developments occurring elsewhere in Europe. Since its foundation, the Geological Survey of Portugal showed a clear drive towards its participation in an international scientific dialogue and cooperation. This strategy encompassed subscription to specialized foreign books and journals; intense correspondence with foreign specialists; the regular publication of monographs and memoirs in French; occasional or permanent collaboration with foreign experts; and travelling. The main outcome of the ‘travel of negotiation’ undertaken in 1878 to Spain by the Portuguese geologist J. F. Nery Delgado, then adjunct to the Director of the Portuguese Geological Survey, in addition to improving relationships with the geologists of the neighbouring country, was the collection of field data that was useful for the geological characterization of the southern Portuguese regions. He was also able to negotiate and look for data which could persuade his Spanish colleagues to subscribe to interpretations consistent with the Portuguese geological map, published in 1876.
