Los estudios de geometría superior en España en el siglo XIX

This paper deals with the evolution of modern geometry studies in Spain in the 19th century. First, the scientific transfer of French geometry around 1800 is considered, then we analyse the slow and laborious introduction of "géométrie moderne" in Spanish universities, in the context of the institutional difficulties that the devolopment of science endured in years 1815-1875. In the second part the activity at the universities of Barcelona, Zaragoza and Madrid are analyzed, paying special attention to the role of Eduardo Torroja (1847-1918). In these faculties of science the application of projective geometry to graphic statics as it has been developed in Germany and Italy arouse a great interest, that shifted towards a more theoretical approach. These geometrical topics became almost the oncly ones considered in the graduate and postgraduate studies in mathematics, partly because they were subordinated to the engineers training. This situation would have a great influence on the efforts towards the modernization of mathematics and the development of an independent research activity in Spain during the first forty years of the 20th century.