Histories of Fire and of the Landscapes Transformations in Central Brazil among Foreign Naturalists in the Nineteenth Century

ABSTRACT

This article presents how foreign naturalists described the burning of the fields, grasslands, and savannas (cerrado) of Central Brazil in the nineteenth century, in a dialogue between the history of science and environmental history. It discusses how they engaged with fire, which raged in the region at the end of the dry season, describing its effects on the flora, the fauna, and the landscape. In naturalists’ documents, fire appears in complex ways, both as an element of destruction and environmental degradation and of life creation and stimulation of the adaptation of living beings, being an important agent for the formation of the Brazilian savannas.

KEYWORDS:
Environmental history; History of science; Naturalist travelers; Central Brazil; Fire; Nineteenth Century