José António Caldas

José António Caldas (1725 – 31 October 1782) was a military engineer from the then Portuguese colony of Brazil.

He later went to Lisbon, where he permanently stayed for over a year and returned to work with one of his maters, professor Manuel Cardoso de Saldanha.

Working conducted some surveys, having designed several plants, one of its examples was a road to the saltpeter mines of Montes Altos.

By the appointment of Salhanda, he was contracted by the Portuguese Crown for the work on its forfications in the archipelago of São Tomé e Príncipe in 1757.

He also made different public works, between which was an "Expedition in Maranhão" ("Expedição do Maranhã") made in 1763, where he drew on the use of the darkrooms and "Notícia Geral de Toda esta Capitania da Bahia Desde o Seu Descobrimento Até o Presente Ano de 1759" ["General News From All the Captaincy of Bahia From Its Discovery Up To The Present Year of 1759"] (1760).