  In this paper we continue our study of the scientific research carried out at
the Institute of Physics of the National University of La Plata during the
first half of the 20th century, and of the important role played by the
physicist Ramon G. Loyarte. Based on his studies, alone or in collaboration
with members of the Institute, towards the end of the 1920s Loyarte proposed
the possible existence of a new quantum of rotational energy in the mercury
atom. This idea raised criticism and generated a fierce scientific controversy
that reached the national and international academic media. We analyse this
controversy by studying the comments that appeared in international review
journals. We also study Loyarte's activities in politics and science policy in
Argentina in the 1930s and 1940s, where he was responsible for interesting
political and scientific initiatives.
