Antonio de Ulloa y de la Torre-Giral (January 12, 1716 – July 3, 1795) was a Spanish general of the navy, explorer, scientist, author, astronomer, colonial administrator and the first Spanish governor of Louisiana. He took part in the French Geodesic Mission in present-day Ecuador. During this expedition and in conjunction with his colleague Jorge Juan, he discovered the element platinum, and was the first person to write a scientific description of the new metal. In 1748 he published an account of the people and countries he had encountered during the French Geodesic Mission. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society and a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He is credited with the establishment of the first museum of natural history, the first metallurgical laboratory in Spain, and the observatory of Cadiz. More by this mapmaker...

Jorge Juan y Santacilia (January 5, 1713 - June 21, 1773) was a Spanish mathematician, scientist, naval officer, and mariner. In collaboration with the French Geodesic Mission, he confirmed Newton's theory that the Earth is not perfectly spherical but is oblate, i.e. flattened at the poles. Juan also successfully measured the heights of the mountains of the Andes using a barometer. In 1749, he was sent to England to spy on British naval construction techniques, and was successful to the extend of bringing back to Spain with him fifty British naval constructors - many of whom would build the Spanish ships that would later fight the British in the American Revolutionary War and the battle of Trafalgar. Learn More...

Charles Marie de La Condamine (January 28, 1701 – February 4, 1774) was a French explorer, geographer, and mathematician. He was a contemporary and friend of Voltaire, with whom he successfully gamed the French lottery. He took part in the French Geodesic Mission, tasked with performing measurements near the equator in order to test Newton's theory regarding the oblate shape of the globe. In conjunction with similar measurements performed by an expedition to Lapland, by Maupertuis, Clairaut, and Le Monnier, the Geodesic Mission was able to declare Newton's theory correct. This project resulted in the first map of the Amazon region based on astronomical observation. (Condamine also produced, based on experiences in this journey, the first scientific paper on the properties of rubber.) Learn More...