The influence of the École des ponts et chaussées of Paris on the Lisbon Polytechnic School (1836–1860)

Abstract

Unveiled here is the extent that the Parisian École des ponts et chaussées (EPC) was a reference for the organization of the Lisbon Polytechnic School (LPS, Escola Politécnica de Lisboa) and the role played by the engineers trained in the French school in the organization and teaching methods at the LPS. The LPS, founded in 1837, was influenced in its functioning by various foreign schools, more specifically the EPC. These influences were felt at the level of teaching methods, textbooks and other publications, as well as through the men who circulated between the two schools and acted as vehicles of transmission of knowledge and methods.