Edited by:
Maurizio Bergamini
Denis Guedj is of Algerian origin and teaches History of Science at Paris VIII University. This is an important detail, because it explains a lot about the genesis and content of this simple novella: 70 pages apparently best suited to children curious about history and fascinated by the progress made by mankind. Disguised as a tale, in fact, we follow a real lesson in the stages that characterised an unrepeatable season of humanity.
The protagonist is La Bela, the first of the caravels, born for discoveries or, as we would say nowadays, for adventures of the extreme. And how far this boundary was conceptually pushed is clear to us from many simple observations, which now seem obvious even to a schoolboy, while at the time they left even highly experienced men, ready for anything, like captains and helmsmen of long standing, dumbfounded: the shadow that disappears because the sun is plumb or the polar star that drops behind the horizon to make way for a completely new, unknown sky with nameless stars. Two simple examples that make us reflect on how tremendous must have seemed the ordeal to which these pioneers of the unknown subjected themselves.
Bela was with them, at least in the author's imagination, and she tells us of her life as a docile but intrepid protagonist, always ready to indulge the captain on duty, and to lend her sails to winds that were gradually less usual. Unfortunately for her, she misses only one appointment: the one with history, with her three sisters Niña, Pinta and Santa Maria. Columbus and his caravels 'crash' on a new continent and for this they will be forever remembered, man and ship alike. But of her, La Bela, no memory will remain, even though she was the first of them all, even though it will be her turn to make the first round-the-world voyage, bringing home the survivors of Magellan's expedition. What an injustice!
For a young person discovering the fundamentals of geography and navigation technology, this simple tale is a real provocation on every page: observations and explanations, problems and solutions follow one another, but with such a calmness of tone that it is a real goad to one's curiosity. How could anyone not want to know more about the native Patagonians with their faces painted red and their hair coloured white? Is the Earth as round as an orange or a lemon? How did sailors know their position in the open sea using mysterious contraptions like the astrolabe or astronomical tables? How not to get lost in a world of which there was no map?
The answers have been slowly evolving, and are now within everyone's reach, but this does not mean that they are known to everyone. On the contrary, they probably still retain their legacy of ingenuity, and dusting them off results in an act of 'intellectual archaeology' that is just as fascinating as the more classical historical artefacts.
La Bela. Autobiographie d'une caravelle
Denis Guedj
2002
Italian
10.00€
Denis Guedj is of Algerian origin and teaches History of Science at Paris VIII University. This is an important detail, because it explains a lot about the genesis and content of this simple novella: 70 pages apparently best suited to children curious about history and fascinated by the progress made by mankind. In fact, disguised as a tale, we follow a real lesson on the stages that characterised an unrepeatable season of humanity. The protagonist is La Bela the first of the caravels, born for discoveries or, as we would say nowadays, for adventures of the extreme. And how far this limit was conceptually pushed is clear to us from many simple observations, which now seem obvious even to a schoolboy, while at the time they left even men of great and proven experience, ready for anything, like captains and helmsmen of long course, dumbfounded: the shadow that disappears because the sun is plumb or the polar star that falls behind the horizon to make way for a completely new, unknown sky, with nameless stars. Two simple examples that make us reflect on how tremendous must have seemed the ordeal to which these pioneers of the unknown subjected themselves. La Bela was with them, at least in the author's imagination, and she tells us of her life as a docile but intrepid protagonist, always ready to indulge the captain on duty, and to lend her sails to winds that were less and less usual. Unfortunately for her, she misses only one appointment: the one with history, with her three sisters Niña, Pinta and Santa Maria. Columbus and his caravels 'crash' on a new continent and for this they will be forever remembered, man and ship alike. But of her, La Bela, no memory will remain, even though she was the first of them all, even though it will be her turn to make the first round-the-world voyage, bringing home the survivors of Magellan's expedition. What an injustice! For a young person discovering the fundamentals of geography and technology applied to navigation, this simple tale is a real provocation on every page: observations and explanations, problems and solutions follow one another, but with such a calmness of tone that it is a real goad to everyone's curiosity. How could anyone not want to know more about the native Patagonians with their faces painted red and their hair coloured white? Is the Earth as round as an orange or a lemon? How did sailors know their position in the open sea using mysterious contraptions like the astrolabe or astronomical tables? How not to get lost in a world of which there was no map? The answers followed one another slowly, and now they are within everyone's reach, but that does not mean that they are known to everyone. On the contrary, they probably still retain their legacy of ingenuity, and dusting them off results in an act of 'intellectual archaeology' that is just as fascinating as the more classical historical artefacts.