As contribuições de Elisa Frota-Pessôa e Neusa Amato para as pesquisas em raios cósmicos no Brasil e suas implicações para o Ensino de Física

Abstract

This work is dedicated to presenting contributions from women scientists, specifically two Brazilian women, to form a possible network of experts in the field of Cosmic Rays. Furthermore, we discussed how the work carried out by them in laboratories in Brazil brought significant scientific advances to Experimental Physics in Brazil. To this end, this thesis is divided into three parallel and complementary studies. The first study aims to contribute to a new history of the institutionalization of physics in Brazil based on the contributions and biography of physicist Neusa Amato to the experimental physics research carried out in the nuclear emulsion laboratories at the Brazilian Center for Physical Research (CBPF). The second, following the same commitment to making the History of women in Brazilian physics visible, aims to present the trajectory and collaborations of Elisa Frota-Pessôa. The third and final article, finally, explores a feminist epistemological perspective to, based on the trajectories of Neusa and Elisa, identify and theorize about the phenomenon of the historical erasure of women in Brazilian school physics curricula, which we now call the Elisa Effect. As a possible way to minimize this effect, Design Principles were proposed for the creation of Cosmic Ray Didactic Sequences in High School, aiming to incorporate social diversity and promote gender equity in High School curricula. We hope that this research fills gaps in the themes of Gender and History of Science in Brazil, highlighting the role of women in scientific construction and, specifically, in Cosmic Ray physics.