La Condamine, a French mathematician, tells us the legends and traditions, the customs and habits, the flora and fauna, the culture and religions he encountered in the Amazon region and surrounding areas when, from 1735 to 1745, he led a scientific expedition with the aim of mapping the Amazon and the Earth’s meridians, by order of the King of France, Louis XV.
In 1743 and 1744, while exploring the Amazon, he discovered rubber, which the Indigenous peoples were already widely using, and he became acquainted with quinine, both of which are very well known to us today.
Although his work is important, La Condamine might not have felt so proud if he had known what awaited the Amazon in later years. Nevertheless, he remains one of the first who applied his scientific knowledge to the benefit of Europeans, and to the detriment of a region still untouched and full of riches for all kinds of adventurers.
