ABSTRACT
The Portuguese physician António Nunes Ribeiro Sanches (1699-1782) is widely known for his active participation in educational reform processes in Portugal during the eighteenth century. His connections with the Crown, and his extensive network of contacts, facilitated the circulation of his thought among several intellectual groups. His intellectual activity was intense from the second half of the eighteenth century onwards, in a period marked by the increased interest of the Portuguese Crown in knowing the natural potentialities of its overseas colonies. There were many policies aimed to the construction of knowledge about the Natural World. These processes largely promoted the scientific production of that period, in which Ribeiro Sanches took part. In this sense, the purpose of this article is to verify to what extent such concerns were also present in his works.
Keywords:
António Nunes Ribeiro Sanches (1699-1782); Colonial Brazil; science and power; Portuguese Atlantic Empire; circulation of knowledge