ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Francisco José de Caldas

Okay, so imagine there was a really smart man called Francisco José de Caldas who lived a long time ago. He was born in Colombia and he loved science and learning new things. He wanted to know everything he could about plants, animals, rocks, and the earth.

Francisco was so interested in nature that he became a botanist, which means he studied plants. He would find different plants and study them to figure out what they were called, what they were used for, and how they grew.

One day, Francisco noticed that the sky looked a certain way before it was about to rain. He realized that he could use this information to help people predict when it was going to rain. He came up with a tool called the pluviometer, which measured the amount of rainfall in a certain area, which was really helpful for farmers.

In addition to being a botanist, Francisco was also a geographer, which means he studied the Earth and its features. He made maps of Colombia to help people understand what the land looked like and where different things were located.

Francisco was also very brave, and he fought for Colombia's independence from Spain. Unfortunately, he was captured and put in jail by the Spanish government. But even when he was in jail, he didn't stop learning and writing about science and nature.

Francisco accomplished many amazing things in his life, and he is remembered as a brilliant scientist who loved his country and wanted to make it a better place for everyone.