The Mapmaker's Wife: A True Tale Of Love, Murder, And Survival In The AmazonBasic Books, 5 lis 2008 - 368 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 Gramesen, 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." |
Spis treści
1 | |
7 | |
3 A Daughter of Peru | 31 |
4 The Mapmakers | 47 |
5 Voyage to Quito | 65 |
6 Measuring the Baseline | 93 |
7 HighAltitude Science | 109 |
8 Death in the Afternoon | 135 |
12 Lost on the Bobonaza | 231 |
13 Into the Jungle | 247 |
14 Deliverance | 269 |
15 Saint Amand | 283 |
Characters | 297 |
Notes | 303 |
329 | |
Acknowledgments | 339 |
Inne wydania - Wyświetl wszystko
The Mapmaker's Wife: A True Tale of Love, Murder, and Survival in the Amazon Robert Whitaker Ograniczony podgląd - 2004 |
Kluczowe wyrazy i wyrażenia
Abridged Narrative academicians Academy of Sciences Alsedo Amazon Amazon basin Andoas Antonio Antonio de Ulloa Arnahis arrived Audiencia Bobonaza brothers Canelos canoe Cartagena Cassini Cayenne Choiseul-Praslin Condamine and Bouguer Condamine wrote Condamine’s Creoles Cuenca d’Orvilliers earth earth’s shape equator Europe expedition feet Fiedmont France French Academy French Guiana Froidevaux Gramesón Guayaquil Indians Isabel Godin Jean Godin Jean’s Jesuits Joaquín Journal du voyage journey Juan and Ulloa jungle Jussieu king king’s La Condamine later letter Lima living longitude Louis Godin Maldonado Maupertuis measurements miles mission Morainville mountains mules Negro night Omaguas Pará Paris Pastaza Pedro Peruvian Pichincha Pierre Bouguer Portuguese priest Quechua Quito Quito Audiencia rain forest reached Rebello Relación Riobamba river Rocha Rouillé Saint Amand sandbar Senièrgues slave South America Spain Spaniards Spanish Suasti toises told town tree triangulation trip Tungurahua Ulloa and Juan Verguin village Voyage to South women