Freire Jr. studied electrical engineering for a year and a half at the Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA) before, impressed by the lectures of physicist Benedito Pepe, he switched to physics.
[2] He wrote his master's thesis with Amelia Hambuger on interpretations of quantum physics, in particular the interpretation by Vladimir Fock, and subsequently wrote his Ph.D. thesis with Michel Paty and Shozo Montoyama on David Bohm's approach to quantum mechanics.
[3] He worked as post-doctoral researcher at the Université Paris VII, at Harvard University, and subsequently at the MIT.
In 2004, Freire Jr. was awarded a Senior Fellowship from the Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology, MIT, USA.
[2] In 2011, he was one of the winners of the Prêmio Jabuti in exact sciences for his book on Quantum theory: historical studies and cultural implications.