  We analyse the scientific research carried out at the Institute of Physics of
the National University of La Plata in the first half of the 20th century, and
the cultural and social context in which they were immersed. We focus
especially on the activities carried out by the Argentine physicist Ramon G.
Loyarte, who was an emblematic personality in the scientific, educational,
cultural and political world of Argentina in those years. We discuss his most
important works in experimental physics and quantum mechanics, his activities
in the management and promotion of science and the international impact of his
scientific proposals, as well as the origin of the controversies unleashed by
his most daring ideas. For the latter topics we employ a novel tool: we examine
the comments on his work published in prestigious international scientific
review journals, which help to understand Loyarte's findings in a more
comprehensive and contemporary way.
