ABSTRACT
The Oratorian priest Teodoro de Almeida (Lisbon, 1722–1804) is best known for his multi-volume Recreação filosófica (1751–1799), a series of popular books on natural philosophy. His life as a devotee of science comprised, however, several other facets. The variety of Teodoro’s activities is best understood in the context of his successive social conditions as he moved from the college of a religious congregation to urban society, to court and eventually to the realm of an academy of sciences. These different environments and audiences had repercussions on the consecutive conceptions and realisations of planetariums he conceived over the years. Teodoro’s activity shows him continuously searching for ways to convey scientific knowledge to various audiences, especially those outside the traditional schools.
