I’m not sure why I picked up the The Mapmaker’s Wife, by Robert Whitaker, at our local library (The Central Rappahannock Regional Library), but I’m glad I did. He spins a tale of adventure, scientific exploration, bad decisions, bad luck, atrocious conditions, and perseverance. The book is set in 17th Century Peru (what is now Ecuador) and South America in the mid 17th Century. The continent had not been fully explored at that point. The story concerns first a scientific expedition to measure a degree of latitude at the equator, with the hope of deciding whether Newton’s or Descartes’ predictions of the Earth’s shape was correct. Whitaker does a good job helping us to imagine the difficulties theses scientists form England and France had to endure. Still it’s difficult for me to imagine that these people would embark on a mission that they new would take several years and from which they may never return. That’s part of the story and explains how the mapmaker got to Peru and married the daughter of a well-to-do land owner. The remaining story of her perseverance and good and bad fortune as she and her brothers travel from Peru tot he other side of the continent on the Amazon, is as fantastic and believable. Thoroughly worth a read, and thanks to Whitaker for writing it. You’ll also want to see the accompanying Web site.
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Comment from Kathryn Birch
I enjoyed the book because I have always loved science. I only wish historians would realize that this is a great way for people who hate reading non-fictional history to have more of an interest in the past.
I also wish the book had an addendum of the actual letter that Jean Godin sent to La Condamine regarding his wife’s travail in the Amazon. I will see if I can access this on the web!
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