MOTA, T. S.. “Os olhos da Geologia”, o discurso dos engenheiros e o saber dos geólogos: o início da utilização de métodos geofísicos na prospecção de recursos minerais em Portugal. []. , 96, pp.129-142. ISSN 1647-581X.

^lpt^aNo início do século XX, e em especial após a morte de Nery Delgado, os Serviços Geológicos de Portugal (SGP) tinham dificuldades em desenvolver uma actividade geológica consistente e significativa. Tal circunstância influenciou, em parte, a difícil situação atravessada pelo sector mineiro português. Na tentativa de inverter este estado de coisas, o Estado Novo criou, em 1939, o Serviço de Fomento Mineiro (SFM). Na década de 1940, os engenheiros de minas do SFM defenderam a utilização de métodos geofísicos na prospecção de depósitos minerais. Depois de ter adquirido à Suécia uma aparelhagem sísmica, o SFM desenvolveu trabalhos de prospecção na região do vale diapírico das Caldas da Rainha. Esse trabalho foi acompanhado pelo geólogo dos SGP, Georges Zbyszewski (1909-1999). A tese defendida no presente trabalho é a de que a actividade desenvolvida por Zbyszewski, conjugada com outros factores, intrínsecos e extrínsecos aos SGP, terá contribuído para alterar o estatuto dos geólogos e da Geologia em Portugal, com destaque para a situação nos próprios SGP.^len^aIn 1918, the Portuguese Geological Survey (PGS) became part of the General Directorate of Mines and Geological Survey (GDMGS), and the rough times the institution was facing by the end of the 19th century turned even worst. The PGS struggled with the lack of money and specialised personnel, and was enable to develop a solid and significant geological research, especially concerning geological mapping. This circumstance was partly responsible for the difficult situation of the Portuguese mining sector, and in order to modify this state of affairs the Portuguese dictatorship, the Estado Novo, created in 1939 the Service for Mining Development (SMD). Just like the PGS, the SMD was also legally attached to the GDMGS. During the 1940’s, the mining engineers of the SMD defended the use of geophysical methods in the prospecting of mineral resources. Geophysical methods embodied some scientific values that were highly regarded by the Portuguese engineers, such as rationality and objectivity. However, they were well aware that the use of “the eyes of geology”, as geophysical methods were sometimes named, involved complex questions, such as the reading and interpretation of the results obtained. The engineers’ perspective corresponded to an attitude characteristic of a scientific ethos that became common during the 20th century. When the use of geophysical methods effectively began, the SMD bought seismic equipment to a Sweden enterprise and began working in a region of mainland Portugal known as the diapiric valley. Georges Zbyszewski (1909-1999), the only geologist who worked for the PGS at the time, was appointed to follow up the geophysical campaign. The present paper argues that the work carried out by Zbyszewski was highly regarded by the mining engineers leading the GDMGS. This was possible because he was using instruments subscribed by the Portuguese engineers in this way reassuring them about the scientific character of his geological research. This circumstance allied to the construction of a geological community during the 1930’s and the 1940’s favoured the later recognition of geology and geologists in Portugal, and, in particular, inside the PGS.

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