Francisco José de Caldas y Tenorio, Colombian geographer, botanist and political personality (Popayán, New Granada 04 October 1768 – Bogotá 28 October 1816)

ACHIEVEMENTS

Performed astronomical, botanical, vulcanological and anthropological observations

With Alexander Von Humboldt is claimed as a founder of geobotany for anticipating many problems about botanical geography in “Discurso sobre el calendario rural del Nuevo Reino” (1801)

Developed an original formula relating the boiling point of water to elevation employing a hypsometer (Caldas hypsometric law of formula) and developed Caldas hypsometric thermometer 

Draft of a new method to measure the altitude of mountains by means of the thermometer and boiling water (1802)

Calculated with accuracy the immersion motion of first Jupiter moon (1798)

Authored El influjo del clima sobre los seres organizados

DESCRIBED PLANT GENERA

Ullucus 1809 (Basellaceae)

Consuegria 1810 (Incertae sedis)  

Pombea 1810 (Incertae sedis) 

HONORS (Asteraceae)

Floscaldasia Cuatrecasas 1968

Neocaldasia Cuatrecasas 1944