The Lateen Sail in World History
نویسنده
چکیده
T the time of the Great European Excursion in the sixteenth century, the sail known as the lateen was in use in three different regions of the world. In the orthodox view, its existence and distribu-tion are a matter of importance for several reasons. First, sails as an artifact have not demonstrated very great human inventiveness, and since the lateen requires some ingenuity to conceive, its distribution is likely to be the result of diffusion, reflecting historical contacts between ancient societies. Second, the lateen is generally considered a sail that gives great power and also allows a vessel greater maneuver-ability than simpler sails, and therefore is widely given the credit for the European accomplishments of the age of discovery. Third, the lateen sail was the immediate ancestor of the fore-and-aft sails that were typical of nineteenth-century schooners and clippers and that culminate in the modern rig of racing and pleasure yachts. All three statements are open to question, and lying behind all three is the com-mon but equally questionable belief that this sail was one of the great contributions of Arab civilization to world history. “Lateen” sails are triangular and are fundamentally different from “square” sails in functional principles. A square sail catches a following wind and is dragged along by it; the lateen sail is slung obliquely to present a curved surface to the wind and derives its motive force from the pressure differential between the convex and concave sides of the
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تاریخ انتشار 2005