The Science of Jules Verne

The Science of Jules Verne Imagination and fantasy are among the most powerful tools of the human mind. They play with what's possible, blurring the line between what is, what will  be, and what will never be. The progress of science is, in many ways, the  constant realization of what is yet to come, of what was once believed to  be fantastic, improbable. Science fiction tales have often far surpassed our technological advances, and one of the most influential authors of the genre was Jules

Verne, in the second half of the nineteenth century. In this video, we'll explore five instances where Jules Verne foresaw fantastic technologies of his time that came true many years later. The Moon landing: In one of his most famous stories, "From the Earth to the Moon," the  writer, a century ahead of his time, presents the hypothesis of a landing on the lunar satellite: not through a rocket, as happened in reality, but via an aluminum bullet fired from a powerful cannon. With an accurac

y that borders on the incredible, Verne predicts both the number of astronauts who  would participate in the mission and the launch base, Florida,  exactly as it happened in 1969. The Helicopter: Despite flying machines always appearing as dreams of  inventors since antiquity, it's Verne who describes the first object resembling a modern helicopter. We are talking about the Albatross, the  imposing aircraft in "Robur the Conqueror." The appearance of the Albatross  resembles a flying vessel s

imilar to something from a Miyazaki film, with  numerous vertical and two horizontal propellers. Verne asks the right questions about how to  lift a heavy aircraft into the atmosphere, and he devises ingenious solutions for the  Albatross, albeit science-fictional. The Submarine: The Nautilus is the fictional submarine designed and commanded by Captain Nemo in the novels "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under  the Sea" and "The Mysterious Island." The inspiration came from observing the  Plongeur, the

first motorized submarine ever built, which Verne had the opportunity to examine at the Paris Exposition in1867. Many features of the Nautilus were pure science fiction for the time. However, some of these became reality  in subsequent years, such as the ability to launch torpedoes. Special Effects: Anticipating Hollywood by almost a century, Verne chooses the best place to awe with terrifying images, recordings, and sounds: an isolated castle in Transylvania. In his "Castle of the Carpat

hians," the writer unleashes his inventiveness to show us spy microphones, illusory image projectors, and reproductions of inhuman sounds, creating his personal science-fictional vision of a horror tale. A Global Communication Network: The Paris of the 20th century, as described by Verne in his eponymous book, uses databases capable of transmitting  information across the globe. The writer showcases in all its grandeur the visionary and prophetic nature that characterized him, imagining g

limpses of globalization and the capitalist spirit with incredible accuracy that would take hold a century later. However, even Verne remains a product of his time, and the technologies he imagines to connect people worldwide are based on a typically nineteenth-century means of communication: the telegraph. These were five examples of innovations born from the pen of Jules Verne and later coming to fruition in the real world long afterward. Do you know of any others? Let  us know in the

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