This paper seeks to deepen the understanding of textbooks’ role in the history of the dissemination of scientific practices. The dogmatic and outdated character of science textbooks has been highlighted as fundamental in the formation of styles of thought (Fleck) and in the inculcation of paradigms (Kuhn) in the new generation of scientists and experts. However, this characterization has been reappraised. Historical analyses of some manuals reveal that some of them were not just updated but also innovative (Kaiser, 2004; Bensaude-Vincent, Sánchez & Belmar,2004). On the other hand, historians of education (Olesko,1991; Belhoste, 1995; Gispert,1991) show how science teaching, much more than being mere derivations of science or conservative simplifications, constantly takes part in the process of reshaping scientific research. In this paper we focus on obstetrics textbooks – more specifically, on the approach of the controversial technique of episiotomy (a vaginal incision proposed to facilitate childbirth), which was disseminated in the 1920s and since 1983 has been contested by scientific evidence. Influenced by this research, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends, since 1985, the restriction of this technique to special cases. However, it is the hegemonic practice in many countries – and the maintenance of this tradition is based on the education of young doctors. The controversy concerning episiotomy makes this practice an interesting case to understand the role of education and textbooks in the dissemination of knowledge and practices. We analyzed three of the main textbooks of wide circulation in Brazil during the last four decades: Rezende’s Obstetrics (Rezende, Rezende Filho & Montenegro), Rezende’s Fundamental Obstetrics (Rezende, Montenegro & Barbosa), and Williams’ Obstetrics (Williams, Pritchard, MacDonald & Gant). These publications were selected based on their editorial success, shown by their several editions and their use as bibliographical reference in major medical schools in the country. The verification of the practically unaltered approach of the episiotomy in these books led us to discuss the reasons of this persistence. Thus, at the end of this paper, we discuss give explanatory hypotheses about the teachers’ motivations for adopting these manuals and reinforcing this practice.

This presentation is based on work co-authored by Maria Lansky.