Ciência, telégrafos e geografia: Os engenheiros militares da comissão Rondon, 1907-1915

Abstract

The article focuses on the work to demarcate borders and chart the Brazilian northwest from 1907 to 1915, a project aimed at national integration and undertaken by the Rondon Commission for the Construction of Telegraph Lines from Mato Grosso to Amazonas, which was organized by the Brazilian ministries of War, Transportation and Public Works, and Agriculture. The study explores the ways in which topographic surveys were conducted by the military engineers sent by the Ministry of War and also endeavors to understand their activities in the field. Of further interest are the demands made by the War Ministry and how they were responded to within the commission.