'The Last Mermaid': A Finnish Writer's View of Natural Science

“The Last Mermaid” is a unique work by Finnish female writer Iida Turpeinen, bringing about the intersection of literature and science , reflecting the relationship between humans and nature.

On July 19, Kim Dong Publishing House, the Embassy of Finland in Vietnam and the Initiative for Creative Children's Book Content (ICBC) jointly organized the book launch on the occasion of "Finnish Literature Week" taking place in Hanoi .

The book opens an overwhelming adventure across three centuries, recounting the impact of humans on the natural world , depicting the great human dreams of science, art and the desire to revive what humanity has destroyed.

The story begins in 1741, when Georg Wilhelm Steller, a German naturalist, embarked on an expedition to the North Pacific Ocean with Captain Vitus Bering to find a sea route from Asia to the Americas. Although they did not reach a new continent, they did make another surprising discovery: the Steller’s Sea Cow, a giant mammal – the “mermaid” of legend. To this day, Steller remains the only person to have detailed records of this animal while it was still alive.

Associate Professor, Doctor Nguyen Thanh Nam, Deputy Head of the Faculty of Biology, Director of the Museum of Biology, University of Science, Vietnam National University, Hanoi and writer Di Li at the book launch. (Photo: Minh Thu/Vietnam+)

Little did the gentle dugongs know that the presence of humans here would spell doom for them. Less than 30 years after Steller discovered them, the dugong was extinct.

In 1861, the Finnish governor of Russian Alaska sent people to search for the skeleton of the giant sea mammal, hoping to recreate a legend that had disappeared for hundreds of years. In 1952, restoration expert John Grönvall at the Helsinki Museum (Finnish Museum of Natural History) was assigned to restore the rare intact skeleton of Steller's sea cow that was sent here.

According to Associate Professor-PhD Nguyen Thanh Nam, Deputy Head of the Department of Biology, Director of the Museum of Biology, University of Natural Sciences, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, the work makes a strong impression by skillfully interweaving scientific and literary elements, between meticulous scientific details - from the anatomy of animals to the concepts of geology and evolution - into a humane storyline.

The book confronts readers with big questions about human responsibility towards the natural world and the legacies we leave behind./.

With “The Last Mermaid,” female writer Iida Turpeinen was honored with the Helsingin Sanomat Literary Award for best debut work and was nominated for the Finlandia Prize - the largest literary award in Finland and the Torch Bearer Prize - an award to honor outstanding Finnish literary works of the year with the potential to be successful in the world.

Up to now, the book has been translated and published in many countries around the world such as Denmark, UK, France, Greece, Italy, Hungary, Spain, Türkiye...

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/nang-tien-ca-cuoi-cung-goc-nhin-ve-khoa-hoc-tu-nhien-cua-nha-van-phan-lan-post1050546.vnp