Conocer la patria es un deber: los museos como dispositivos de divulgación de las Ciencias Naturales en los Parques Nacionales a mediados siglo XX

Abstract

The current National Parks Administration, created in 1934, included in its organizational chart various institutions, including museums and publications, for the dissemination of knowledge in the protected areas under its jurisdiction. The National Parks motto “Knowing the homeland is a duty” accompanied a very varied set of materials published in order to promote tourism and make these areas attractive for visitors. These devices quickly combined said tourism promotion with scientific dissemination. From renewed perspectives that allow us to think about this object of study and the strategies that were deployed to do and communicate science, understanding the State as a producer of knowledge beyond the academies and as an educator beyond the schools, this text proposes to analyze the educational heritage of natural sciences within the National Parks in the mid-20th century.