The list of researchers in South America is quite extensive. Who discovered this continent and when? Even a primary school student knows that it was Christopher Columbus. But serious scientists have no, no, and there are doubts about this. Perhaps the fearless seafarers of the early Middle Ages, the Normans, reached the island of Greenland and the shores of North America much earlier than Columbus. Or, Chinese ships crossed the Pacific Ocean and it is the sailors of the Celestial Empire who are the untitled discoverers of the mainland. In addition, Christopher Columbus until the end of his life was sure that his foot had not set foot on a new continent, but on the west coast of India. In this article, we will try to understand the many researchers in South America. Each of them contributed to the development of a new continent. Russian scientists were also on the list of discoverers.
History of the Western Way
The list of researchers in South America is led by Christopher Columbus, and his merit must be appreciated. In those days, Europe experienced difficulties in trading with India. The road there for silks and spices was long and dangerous. Based on the postulate of the circular shape of the Earth, Columbus hypothesized that one can sail to India from Europe, moving not east, but following west. It was there, beyond the Atlantic Ocean, the navigator convinced his sponsor, the Spanish king, that the cherished land of sandalwood and spices lay. And he begged money for expedition equipment. In 1492, Columbus crossed the Atlantic and discovered the Greater Antilles. This success allowed him to equip two more expeditions. In 1498, Columbus discovered the island of Trinidad. Water in the sea off its coast seemed to the sailors too salted. Only a very large mainland river can carry such freshness - the admiral decided. His ships entered the mouth of Orinoco and explored the coast of South America right up to the Paria Peninsula.
Expeditions Amerigo Vespucci
The Portuguese kingdom, learning about the success of the Spanish explorers of South America (then thought that it was the western coast of India), equipped its three transatlantic expeditions. They were commanded by navigator Amerigo Vespucci. He did not limit himself to swimming along the coasts, but did fearless campaigns inland. As a result, he discovered and described the Brazilian Highlands, the lower reaches of the Amazon River and the bay, where the city of Rio de Janeiro now stands. Vespucci gradually began to torment doubts. The newly discovered territories were not at all like India. He wrote to his homeland in 1503 that this is the “New Part of the World”. And this name has become fixed. North and South America is still called the "Indies" and the "New World."
The contribution of Amerigo Vespucci is invaluable. It was he who gave Europeans the knowledge of the existence of a new continent. Therefore, both continents are named after him. Already in 1507, a cartographer from Lorraine Martin Waldszemuler christened the southern part of the continent "America" (Latinized spelling "Amerigo"). In 1538, this name also spread to the northern part of the continent.
Fairytale land of Eldorado
Inspired by the success of the Portuguese explorers of South America, whose ships were returning, loaded with gold, in the years 1522-58, the Spanish sailors also reached out to the New World. Under the pretext of converting local tribes to the Christian faith, they began the seizure of land. This conquest (in Spanish "conquista") was accompanied by mass executions of people at the stake, robbery and other violence. Europeans believed that the new mainland was Golden Land, Eldorado. But along with the conquistadors and religious fanatics, real researchers arrived in South America, compiling maps describing previously unknown species of plants and animals, studying the customs and culture of local tribes. Through the Isthmus of Panama, the Spaniards penetrated to the west coast. The expeditions of P. Andagoi (1522), F. Pizarro (1527), D. Almagro (1537), P. Valdivia (1540s), H. Ladrillero (1558), P. Sarmiento de Gamboa (1580) moved across the Pacific Ocean south to Chile.
Discoverers and explorers of South America
Not only the Spaniards and the Portuguese took part in the conquest of new lands. In 1528, German bankers Ehingers, Welsers and others received permission from the Emperor Charles the Fifth to colonize the northeastern coast of South America, washed by the Caribbean Sea. France and Holland also “torn” themselves a piece of new land. British sailors J. Davis, R. Hawkins and J. Strong discovered the Falkland Islands. And the Dutch V. Schauten and J. Lemer in 1616 circled Cape Horn. The thirst for profit attracted the Spanish conquistadors deep into the mainland. In search of the legendary gold mines, they crossed the Northwest Andes and descended to the Amazonian lowlands. Spanish and Portuguese explorers and travelers of South America also infiltrated the La Plata river basin, described Parana, Gran Chaco, Paraguay. The main expedition crossed the continent from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean by F. Orellana in 1541.
Scientific researchers of South America and their discoveries
The main goal of all the above expeditions was to capture new lands. Scientific research (mapping, description of what was seen along the way) was carried out only because it helped advance the team of conquistadors. But with the advent of the Enlightenment, the goals of the discoverers have changed. The first serious scientific researchers of South America consider the German Alexander Humboldt and the Frenchman Eme Bonplan. They spent five years (from 1799 to 1804) on the mainland, collecting a collection of plants, animals and minerals. After that, A. Humboldt devoted about thirty years to writing a grandiose 30-volume work “Journey to the Equinox (that is, Equatorial) Lands of the New World”.
Other scientific research
We owe the exact map of the mainland to the English expedition of R. Fitzroy and F. King. In the nineteenth century, when the northern part of the American continent was already explored, the southern - due to the impenetrable jungle and high mountains - remained unexplored. And the "terra incognita" attracted scientists from different countries. In the XIX century, such researchers of the mainland of South America as the Germans W. Eschweg K. Steinen, the French J. Saint-Hilaire and A. Kudro, the Austrians and Bavarians I. Nutterer, I. Paul, I. Spiks and K. Martius, the British are known J. Wells, W. Chandless, G. Bates and A. Wallace. An invaluable contribution to the study of the new land was made by Charles Darwin. It was the nature of South America that prompted the scientist to think about the evolutionary development of life on Earth.
Russian expeditions to the mainland
The first trip took place in 1822-28. The Russian academic complex expedition was led by G.I. Langsdorf. Its members studied the internal regions of Brazil. On this scientific research on the mainland did not end. Such Russian researchers of South America as A. S. Ionin, N. M. Albov, G. G. Manizer, A. I. Voeikov described the geography, climate, culture of the tribes, the flora and fauna of Tierra del Fuego. Biologist N.I. Vavilov visited the mainland in 1932-33. and established the sources of origin of various agricultural plants.