PHONLAB Project: Coimbra – Harvard. Rethinking 20th-Century Scientific Centres and Peripheries

Abstract

The aim of PHONLAB is to conduct a case study of the Coimbra Experimental Phonetics Laboratory (1936-1979). Created by Portuguese phonetician Armando de Lacerda (1902-1984), the laboratory attracted scientists from leading universities such as Harvard, Cambridge and Bonn, who sought specialist training in the use of innovative laboratory research techniques. How is it that in a country regarded as being scientifically backward there was a laboratory with a reputation as the most advanced in Europe in the mid-20th century? We seek to produce a biography of the laboratory, documenting methods, instruments and providing recognition for its actors. This project will also contribute to the enhancement of a range of scientific sources that will later be made available at museums, and through publications and a digital experimental phonetics archive.