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Release date: 2022
Dimensions: cm 15 x 22,5
Pages: 368
Language: Italian

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"The coast is an ancient world, a place where water meets land, one that has existed for as long as there have been oceans and continents; a world that holds onto that sense of continuity in creation and a relentless drive for life."

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"The shore of the sea is a strange and beautiful place. Throughout the long history of the planet, it has been an area of disquiet, where the waves crash forcefully against the land. Contemplating the teeming life of the shore, we have an uneasy sense of the communication of some universal truth that lies just beyond our grasp. What is the message signalled by the hordes of diatoms, flashing their microscopic lights in the night sea? What truth is expressed by the legions of the barnacles, whitening the rocks with their habitations? And what is the meaning of so tiny a being as the transparent wisp of protoplasm that is a sea lace, existing for some reason inscrutable to us, amid the rocks and weeds of the shore? The meaning haunts and ever eludes us, and in its very pursuit we approach the ultimate mystery of Life itself.”

Released in 1955 and never before published in Italy, La vita che brilla sulla riva del mare is one of Rachel Carson's masterpieces. Presenting the life forms that inhabit the coast, in this essay the author takes us to explore a rock pool, an inaccessible cave, to observe a solitary crab on the beach at midnight: through these and other encounters she offers us not only a remarkably precise study of coastal ecology, but also a powerful and evocative account of the fragile balance of life found on the seashore.

With an introduction by Margaret Atwood celebrating Carson's foresight in intuiting the crucial role of the oceans for the health of the planet, and accompanied by Bob Hines's illustrations, which are also featured in the original edition and are very useful in orienting readers to recognise the plants and animals described in these pages, La vita che brilla sulla riva del mare is a heartfelt guide written with extraordinary scientific accuracy for all sea lovers and lovers of great, timeless literature.

“Rachel Carson is a pivotal figure in the twentieth century. She is one of the most important forerunners of today's environmental movements. Human beings owe a huge debt of gratitude to her, and if we go into the 22nd century as a species, we owe it in part to her. Saint Rachel, wherever you are, thank you."
Margaret Atwood

Rachel Carson (1907-1964) a marine biologist widely acknowledged as the mother of environmentalism, in 1962 she revealed the dangers of pesticide and fertilizer use to the world in her essay Silent Spring (Feltrinelli), which later became an international bestseller. For Aboca editions she has published Brevi lezioni di meraviglia. Elogio della natura per genitori e figli (2020)

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