In Africa, sulle tracce di Livingstone

The first episode of this year's Speciali Superquark deals with a character who has become legendary: David Livingstone, an English missionary, doctor and explorer who, in the second half of the 19th century, left for Africa in search of the source of the Nile. It may seem like an original and slightly crazy idea, but many had it at the time, such as Burton and Speke, who were also funded by the Royal Geographical Society. But perhaps the thing that everyone remembers most is the famous phrase that, with a typically British imperturbability, journalist Henry Stanley uttered when he found Livingstone in Ujiji near Lake Tanganyika after eight months of searching across half of Africa: "Dr. Livingstone, I presume". In Africa, Livingstone is a legendary figure, especially for his fight against the slave trade. Places named in his memory can be found in almost every African country.