Why were the indigenous people of the Americas less developed scientifically than their European counterparts?

by pehrk

The Europeans upon discovering the Americas were much more technologically advanced compared to the indigenous peoples they met upon landing. The Europeans had the desire for exploration, expansion, and mapping the world; while it seems the indigenous people had barely (if at all) mapped their own lands and there was no desire for expansion. Perhaps the literature is biased towards Europeans, but why was there such a vast difference in cultures? Wouldn't we expect many great discoveries, inventions, and explorations to have arisen from the indigenous people over thousands of years?

themoxn

What is your definition on expansion?

The Inca empire was the largest in the world at the time of its height, and until the very end it was continuously trying to expand against the Mapuche in Patagonia and various polities in modern-day Colombia.

The Maya traded with people all throughout the Caribbean and possibly even parts of modern-day Florida and Georgia.

Various polities around Mesoamerica were also expansionist, like the Teotihuacan (if not directly political expansion, but cultural) or the more famous Triple Alliance of the Aztec.

As for maps, it looks like the Mexica did attempt to map out the world they knew, but it's hard to say how much more there were since so many records were burned and lost.