Physics, scientific investigation and society in Argentina, 1920-1930

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.