O arsênio e a sua longa história: contribuições para o desenvolvimento da ciência forense no século XIX

Abstract

This paper discusses the properties of arsenic and its compounds, which have been used in various activities and have been present at numerous moments in history around the world. Based on a historiographical study of this chemical element, its applications in areas such as medicine, aesthetics, art, and chemistry can be observed, with emphasis on its contributions to the improvement of Forensic Science, more specifically in the area of Toxicology. Traversing moments and applications from the Ancient Age to the present day, this dissertation seeks to shed light on the importance of the History of Science linked to playfulness in the teaching of chemistry for basic education, promoting moments of greater interaction and interest and, consequently, a more consolidated construction of knowledge. Despite the importance of arsenic and its history, few studies have been found that fulfill this task, especially in one of its most remarkable contexts, due to the large number of reports of poisoning: 19th-century England. Thus, the overall objective of this thesis is to understand, through the history of science, how these cases of poisoning in Victorian England paved the way for toxicologists and how this can contribute to science education. Thus, the overall objective of this thesis is to understand, through the history of science, how these cases of poisoning in Victorian England paved the way for toxicologists and how this can contribute to science education. To this end, we opted to conduct qualitative documentary analysis research that included the investigation of images, newspaper publications, books, and other primary and secondary source documents that would give this work a dual approach, discussing both the specific facts of science and the social, political, and economic influences of the time. Linked to this documentary analysis and the information it provided, the importance of the History of Science in basic education was discussed, and an attempt was made to encourage teachers to use it as a tool to contextualize their classes, because, throughout this work, it was possible to identify that arsenic and its compounds are part of the history of many people and places and that, contrary to popular belief, they do not have exclusively harmful applications, since even their indiscriminate use as poison has led to great achievements in Forensic Science and chemical analysis today.