Monday, April 16, 2007

Done for the Week!!!

I have just finished the introduction to my book, From the Earth to the Moon, by Jules Verne. The introduction gives a thorough summary of Verne's life as well as his works. Verne was born in France in 1828. He attended school and his grades were nothing near outstanding or anything that would indicate his future as a science fiction author. This book was originally titled De la Terre à la Lune and was a big success. Verne's first book was Five Weeks in a Balloon, and was also a huge success. The intro also describes this book briefly. This is the story of three men who go into space with the goal of a lunar landing. Their capsule is shot into orbit by a large 'space cannon' at a velocity sufficient to overcome the gravitational pull of the earth. Throughout the book, i am told, Verne gives the reader many lessons in Selenography, which is the study of the moon as well as Newtonian ballistics, mechanics, astronomy and explosives. Like i said in my previous post, much of this information was very accurately described and/or predicted and is valid today. There is a sequel to this that is Around the Moon

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