Published by Maney Publishing (c) Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry © Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry 2012 DOI 10.1179/174582312X13457672281786 ambix, Vol. 59 No. 3, November 2012, 218–40 Enlightenment Chemistry Translated by a Brazilian Man of Science in Lisbon Fernando J. Luna Northern Rio de Janeiro State University, Campos dos Goytacazes, Brazil Lorelai B. Kury Casa de Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil The Brazilian-born man of science Martim Francisco de Andrada (1775–1844) actively participated in some of the major publishing activities of the Portu- guese Enlightenment, notably in the Arco do Cego printing house. For many Brazilians, technical and scientific activities provided a path to becoming part of the administrative system of the Portuguese Empire. This paper examines Andrada’s work as translator of Torbern Bergman’s book Scia- graphia Regni Mineralis, secundum principia proxima digesti, originally pub- lished in Latin in 1782 and soon translated into French. A comparison between the Portuguese and French editions allows us to understand the different ways in which translators intervened in texts. Martim Francisco established a dialogue both with Bergman and with his translators, Jean- André Mongez and Jean-Claude Delamétherie, in addition to the challenge of having to deal with the propositions set forward by the new pneumatic chemistry. We argue that the Brazilian translator’s main objective was to explore the possibilities of using the book as a teaching and fieldwork manual. From this perspective, the resulting translation gains significance when read at the confluence of these demands and intentions. Introduction With a few exceptions, historians of science have not yet given adequate attention to the pertinent historiographical questions concerning the circulation of scientific and technical knowledge by means of translations of books and journal articles, especially into languages of peripheral countries, such as Portuguese. According to Gavroglu and co-workers, 1 the sometimes substantial interventions made by men of science in the books and articles that they translated into different 1 Kostas Gavroglu, Manolis Patiniotis, Faidra Papanelopoulou, Ana Simões, Ana Carneiro, Maria P. Diogo, José R. Bertomeu Sánchez, Antonio García Belmar and Agustí Nieto-Galan, “Science and Technology in the European Periphery: Some Historiographical Reflections,” History of Science 46 (2008): 153–75.