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In the early years of the 18th century, a band of French scientists set off on a daring, decade-long expedition to South America in a race to measure the precise shape of the earth. Like Lewis and Clark's exploration of the American West, their incredible mission revealed the mysteries of a little-known continent to a world hungry for discovery. Scaling 16,000foot mountains in the Peruvian Andes, and braving jaguars, pumas, insects, and vampire bats in the jungle, the scientists barely completed their mission. One was murdered, another perished from fever, and a third-Jean Godin-nearly died of heartbreak. At the expedition's end, Jean and his Peruvian wife, Isabel Gramesón, became stranded at opposite ends of the Amazon, victims of a tangled web of international politics. Isabel's solo journey to reunite with Jean after their calamitous twenty-year separation was so dramatic that it left all of 18th-century Europe spellbound. Her survival-unprecedented in the annals of Amazon exploration-was a testament to human endurance, female resourcefulness, and the power of devotion.Drawing on the original writings of the French mapmakers, as well as his own experience retracing Isabel's journey, acclaimed writer Robert Whitaker weaves a riveting tale rich in adventure, intrigue, and scientific achievement. Never before told, The Mapmaker's Wife is an epic love story that unfolds against the backdrop of "the greatest expedition the world has ever known."… (plus d'informations)
I truly enjoyed this book, though I thought it was a bit of a bait and switch. The wife doesn't really take the stage until over 250 pages in. While I understand the need to lay groundwork, I thought this was a bit more extensive then may have been expected.
I learned a lot about measuring latitude and how to determine the shape of the earth and political maneuvering in colonial Spain and Portugal. ( )
A good story, with generous helpings of science and history. Impressively well-researched. I recommend to anyone who likes a good story and has a generally curious mind. ( )
This book is a combination of so many things - the tale of a scientific expedition, an adventure story, a history of colonialism in South America, an unlikely survival tale - that it's hard to classify it or understand how the author fit so much information in so few pages. It also made me think about how much of my education and reading about history is focused on the English-speaking world - reading this book was like exploring a new world of which I only had the barest outlines. Starting with a French scientific expedition in the 1730s to the equator, this book chronicles the scientific debates and findings and then how members of the expedition remained in South America for years and decades afterwards. And among them were a couple who were separated for nearly twenty years until the wife journeyed through hundreds of miles of dangerous rivers and rainforest to reunite. An amazing story that deserves more attention than history has given it thus afar. ( )
Interesting, although the title is a little misleading - much more of the book is devoted to the mapmakers and the history of their expedition than to Isabel herself, although I suppose that's largely because of which historical records were available. ( )
Informations provenant du Partage des connaissances anglais.Modifiez pour passer à votre langue.
To my wife, Andrea, who shared with me our first adventure in Ecuador and To Ignacio Alvarez, who long ago taught me to love all things Spanish
Premiers mots
Informations provenant du Partage des connaissances anglais.Modifiez pour passer à votre langue.
More than twenty-five years ago, I fell in love with Ecuador. [Preface]
Today the Ecuadorian village of Cajabamba, which is about 110 miles south of Quito, is a place of little note. [Chapter One]
Citations
Derniers mots
Informations provenant du Partage des connaissances anglais.Modifiez pour passer à votre langue.
Isabel and Jean's house in Saint Amand still stands as well, and in the town library there is a copy of the famous letter Jean wrote to La Condamine, telling of his wife's wanderings in the Bobonaza wilderness.
In the early years of the 18th century, a band of French scientists set off on a daring, decade-long expedition to South America in a race to measure the precise shape of the earth. Like Lewis and Clark's exploration of the American West, their incredible mission revealed the mysteries of a little-known continent to a world hungry for discovery. Scaling 16,000foot mountains in the Peruvian Andes, and braving jaguars, pumas, insects, and vampire bats in the jungle, the scientists barely completed their mission. One was murdered, another perished from fever, and a third-Jean Godin-nearly died of heartbreak. At the expedition's end, Jean and his Peruvian wife, Isabel Gramesón, became stranded at opposite ends of the Amazon, victims of a tangled web of international politics. Isabel's solo journey to reunite with Jean after their calamitous twenty-year separation was so dramatic that it left all of 18th-century Europe spellbound. Her survival-unprecedented in the annals of Amazon exploration-was a testament to human endurance, female resourcefulness, and the power of devotion.Drawing on the original writings of the French mapmakers, as well as his own experience retracing Isabel's journey, acclaimed writer Robert Whitaker weaves a riveting tale rich in adventure, intrigue, and scientific achievement. Never before told, The Mapmaker's Wife is an epic love story that unfolds against the backdrop of "the greatest expedition the world has ever known."
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I learned a lot about measuring latitude and how to determine the shape of the earth and political maneuvering in colonial Spain and Portugal. (