Talk:Portuguese inventions

This article is rated Start-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects:

Invention Top‑importance This article is within the scope of WikiProject Invention, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Invention on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.InventionWikipedia:WikiProject InventionTemplate:WikiProject InventionInvention articles Top This article has been rated as Top-importance on the project's importance scale.

There were some editions made by user:Alvesgaspar referring that the Caravel is not a Portuguese invention, though all sources I get, from various perspectives say the opposite:

• The origin of the word caravel itself is as uncertain as the origin of the vessel. Historians assume that the Portuguese developed the early versions of these ships, presumably combining features of the sturdy trading ships of northern Europe with the Mediterranean fishing and coastal trading ships with lateen sails and a narrower hull. As mariners returned from their explorations down the western coast of Africa, shipwrights modified the ships until they arrived at the basic caravel design. in: [1]

• A Caravela portuguesa deriva da longa tradição árabe das embarcações pesqueiras do sul do país (Algarve). O primeiro documento conhecido onde aparece a palavra caravela é o foral de Vila Nova de Gaia, concedido em 1255 por Afonso III. O aperfeiçoamento deste tipo de embarcação resultou num novo e versátil tipo de navio, que proporcionou viagens mais rápidas a longa distância. No início do séc. XV começa a ser utilizada nas viagens marítimas dos Descobrimentos portugueses, sobretudo ao longo da costa africana. Eram navios ligeiros, rápidos, capazes de navegar em todas as águas e com todos os ventos. As suas velas triangulares, vela latina, permitiam-lhes bolinar, isto é, navegar com ventos contrários. in: [2].

• [3]

• [4]

• [5]

João Pimentel Ferreira 15:00, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

• It is consensual among the researchers that the caravel used in the exploration voyages from about 1450 on was first introduced by the Portuguese. However the term "discovery" is here displaced as that type of ship resulted from a continuous evolution whose origin is difficult to determine. For example, the most significant feature of the caravel was its Latin-type sails, which permitted the ships to progress against the wind (to luff) more effectively. However those type of sails were known long before the caravel was introduced in the voyages to and from the coast of Africa. The bottom line is: I don't think that he concept of "invenction" applies to a situation where there is a continuous evolution over time. By the way, most of the internet sources provided above are not part of the scientific mainstream and should not be trusted in detailed matters. Only this one [6] is good in my opinion -- Alvesgaspar (talk) 17:19, 10 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The fact, is that there aren't invention created from vacuum! All inventions result from improvements made on earlier creations. All the sources I get, state that the caravel, as we know today, result exactly from various improvements on boat manufacturing techniques, developed by the Portuguese. João Pimentel Ferreira 16:12, 19 December 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Joao.pimentel.ferreira (talk • contribs)

By the fifteenth century the [191] slender, graceful designs of the Basque pinnace and Portuguese caravel had produced boats much faster and more maneuverable than the slow, clumsy round boats traditionally used for Mediterranean commerce. These ships were planned for coastal navigation, but soon proved capable of a greatly extended radius of maritime activity. The key period of maritime innovation was the half-century between 1420 and 1470. During these years the rapid, long-ranging caravel was perfected, and lateen sail rigging, greatly increasing speed and flexibility, was developed. Navigational devices, chiefly the perfected astrolabe, were introduced which made possible the great voyages of the last years of the century. The greater share of this technical achievement was accomplished by the Portuguese, though with considerable assistance from Spaniards and Italians. The most important works dealing with Portuguese shipping and nautical science are Gago Coutinho, A náutica dos descobnmentos, 2 vols. (Lisbon, 1951-52); A. Fontoura da Costa, A marinharia dos descobrimentos (Lisbon, 1934, new ed., 1960); and Quimo da Fonseca, A caravela portuguesa (Coimbra, 1934). in [7] João Pimentel Ferreira 16:44, 19 December 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Joao.pimentel.ferreira (talk • contribs)

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to one external link on

• Added archive https://web.archive.org/20070927043648/http://www.sibs.pt/noticia.php?id=137 to http://www.sibs.pt/noticia.php?id=137

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.

This message was posted before February 2018.

• If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
• If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—