One hundred years after his death, the heroes and stories of Jules Verne - the great French writer - continue to fascinate and excite readers all over the world. His immortal heroes, who populate dozens of his books, go on exciting journeys in distant regions - on the surface of the earth and in its depths, to the depths of the ocean and to the far side of the moon.
Chazi Yitzhak
Direct link to this page: https://www.hayadan.org.il/vern200305.html
One hundred years after his death, the heroes and stories of Jules Verne - the great French writer - continue to fascinate and excite readers all over the world. His immortal heroes, who populate dozens of his books, go on exciting journeys in distant regions - on the surface of the earth and in its depths, to the depths of the ocean and to the far side of the moon. With a wonderful sensitivity to human nature and a lot of faith in technology and progress, Vern wove with the hand of a master exciting adventures that ranged from reality to imagination and established his status as "the man who invented the future"
Jules Verne, also known as "the man who invented the future", was born on February 8, 1828, in the French port city of Nantes. One of the few stories, known from his childhood, tells how at the age of 11 he tried to board a ship bound for India, until at the last moment, before it left for the open sea, his father managed to return him home. When he returned, the young Vern promised his mother that he would not sail on the voyage again, but only in his imagination...
Verne attended high school in his hometown, excelling in sports, geography and rhetoric and reading a lot of travel books, especially those related to the sea. He had a fondness for stories in the style of 'Robinson Crusoe', in which a man is created from the beginning of a world in a tiny enfin, free from the mistakes of the past. Later he wrote - "The stories of the Robinsons were the books of my childhood and I never felt this impression of those first years after reading other works. There is no doubt that my love for this type of events made me think of the path I followed after that..."
Freedom, equality, brotherhood
In 1848, Verne moved to Paris, in order to study law, in accordance with the life path outlined for him by his father. He arrived in the city right after the February coup, in which the French king was exiled and the Parisians proudly proclaimed - "With Paris to the whole of Europe: freedom, equality, fraternity".
His financial situation in Paris was quite difficult, as is clear from one of the letters he sent to his father: "I have long years, bread is expensive, send money". On the other hand, from a cultural point of view, it was very rich - in those days, the city was the beating heart of the spiritual creation of all of Europe. He was fascinated by the bohemian life of the capital city, made famous friends, among them Alexandre Dumas Sr. (who wrote "The Count of Monte Cristo") and even met the famous writer Victor Hugo, author of "Les Miserables".
After about a year, he successfully passed his law studies, but instead of returning to his father's office in Nantes, he stayed in Paris (with his father's consent), in order to develop a literary career. In one of the letters he sent to his father, he writes: "Don't think even for a moment that I'm wasting my time in vain; My purpose makes me stay here. I can be a good writer, while I can always be a bad lawyer."
dreams and adventures
Between the years 1852-1851 he wrote several short stories, including "Martin Paz" and "Hadon Zachariah". In 1856, he met Honorine - a widow with two daughters - at a wedding in Amines. A year later he marries her and starts working as a stock clerk. In 1858, Verne joins a steamship cruise to Scotland and the Hebrides, along with his good friend Aristide Inier. In this journey, he finally gets to be introduced to the open sea and often questions the sailors about their experiences and adventures. He used to record the stories and impressions in his diary, which he later used in writing his books. On their way back, Vern and his friends visited the shipyards on the Thames River, where the "Grant Eastern" - the largest ship in the world - was being built, which was to lay the telegraph cable under the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. "One day I will make a trip on this ship," he wrote to his wife Honorin.
On his return to Paris, Verne returned to writing, when, among other things, he wrote a book about the work of the American writer Edgar Allan Poe, by whom he was greatly influenced. At the same time he composed several plays, while at the same time he was engrossed in formulating the idea of writing a novel about science. He was particularly fascinated by the idea of traveling in a hot air balloon, but for this he had to overcome several technical problems, especially the problem of navigating the balloon against the wind. In February 1861, he wrote to his father: "I do not hope to sail in my balloon in the coming months. This hot air balloon must be equipped with perfect mechanisms."
Although his wife was in an advanced stage of pregnancy, that year he joins a trip on a coal ship to the Scandinavian countries, which have always held a great fascination for him. Immediately after his return, his only son Michel was born, and against the background of crying voices, he wrote his first book in the "Wonderful Journeys" series. He contacted the photographer and adventurer Nader, with whom he talked a lot about a possible balloon trip. During all those years, he often visited the national library and read various scientific magazines, from which he recorded details that seemed valuable to him and that he would be able to use in the future.
Hello my dears!
In September 1862, Verne met for the first time with the publisher Etzel - a meeting that was to change his life beyond recognition. Etzel, who was 14 years older than Moran, was a journalist and publisher of famous books. He was a member of the Republican Party and even served as head of the Foreign Minister's office, in the provisional government established after the revolution of 1848. After the rise to power of Napoleon III, he was forced to leave France and returned to Paris only in 1859. Legends say that what remained of that first meeting between the two was A phrase that Etzel said: "The audience does not want to be taught, but to be entertained"; This sentence, contained the bright future of Vern.
At that meeting, Vern brought a story called "Journey in the Air", which deals with hot air balloons. Many days ago, his wife said that he was about to throw the manuscript in the trash, after it was rejected by one of the Parisian publishers. Etzel asked him to return to him two weeks later with a revised manuscript. After returning to him, the sharp-eyed Etzel recognized the talent inherent in the young writer and signed him to a long-term contract for twenty years. According to the terms, Vern undertook to publish two one-volume novels each year, or one two-volume novel. Etzel promised to publish the books and pay the writer a salary of 20,000 francs a year.
Vern was overjoyed and when he parted from his friends at the stock exchange he said: "I have written a novel in a new style, which sets my mind. If he succeeds, he will become a vein in a gold mine. So I will write continuously, without delay, while you will continue to pay in cash for the papers on the eve of the rate drop and for their seller on the eve of the rate rise. I'm leaving the stock market. Hello my dear!".
The beginning of a wonderful friendship
This was the beginning of a wonderful friendship between the two and the beginning of the book series "Wonderful Journeys in Known and Unknown Worlds", which made Verne one of the most successful writers of all time. Until the day of his death, Vern kept his commitment to Atzel and wrote 63 books for the series, the first of which - "Five Weeks in a Hot Air Balloon", was published on January 1, 1863.
These books were accompanied by many illustrations (nearly 4,000 in total), maps and charts, which helped the readers to better understand the plot and the places where those "wonderful journeys" took place. In addition, they contributed to their tremendous success among the youth.
Verne's books were translated into many languages, but many of the translations, especially those into English, were abridged versions, containing only the adventures, without the scientific and literary descriptions. These poor translations contributed to the misconception that Jules Verne wrote only for teenagers and that his books lack any literary value. Only in recent years, following more successful studies and translations of his works, has he taken his rightful place among the great writers.
as a sign of development and progress
Etzel's vision was to turn the series of travel books into an educational project for the French youth, through which they would learn science in a special way, as well as moral values of freedom, equality and justice. In the introduction to the novel "The Voyages of Captain Tress", he declares the purpose of the series - "to summarize all the geographical, geological, physical and astronomical knowledge accumulated by modern science, to report on it in a picturesque and entertaining manner and to create a kind of history of the universe".
The timing for this was wonderful - these were the beautiful years of science and the beautiful years of the engineers and inventors, of the explorers and of the adventurers who crossed deserts and oceans. In those days, the planet Neptune was discovered, after calculations made following observations of deviations in the orbit of Uranus; Physicist Hamilton carefully formulated Newtonian mechanics and Maxwell formulated the entire electromagnetic theory; Darwin published the theory of evolution and natural selection (1859), thereby challenging the divine origin of man, and Mendeleev published the periodic table (in 1869), which accurately described many yet-to-be-discovered elements.
Besides the great theoretical progress in all branches of science, the period was characterized by great technological progress. In 1831, Faraday discovered electromagnetic induction, which enabled the future cheap production of electricity and the development of an electric motor, which operates on direct current. Steam engines effectively replaced the hands of laborers, railroads spread across the continent and the London Underground was inaugurated (in 1863). In Africa, Livingstone, Barrett and Stanley hunted for the unknown sources of the Nile and the British Admiralty sent naval expeditions to search for the Northwest Passage - adventures that aroused great public interest, as did the search for Franklin's expedition, which was lost in the Arctic Ocean in 1848.
The science of those days was exciting and promising and the public was thirsty to hear about the new discoveries. Etzel understood this well, as is evident from what he wrote: "Verne's books came at a perfect time. When you see the influx of the French public to scientific lectures given all over France, and in the newspapers the columns devoted to art and the theater are replaced by the articles of the Academy of Sciences, you may conclude that art as art for its own sake is not sufficient for our time. The time has come for science to take its place in the world of literature." Thus, the old hero of the novel was replaced by a new hero - an engineer and inventor, the reward of his action is the laboratory or the workshop and the great world he rediscovers. These heroes were greedy, thirsty for ideas and bold to no end; Heroes that science was at the peak of their ambitions and that nothing deters them from achieving their goal and that even in the most difficult moments, they do not lose their peace and judgment.
The stories of a learned traveler
There was no limit to the realms to which Verne's imagination sailed. The goals of his heroes were varied and encompassed the entire universe - to cross Mother Africa in a hot air balloon, to reach the North Pole, to go deep into the interior of the earth or to fly up to the moon.
Vern's first book - "Five Weeks in a Hot Air Balloon", was a huge success and in the way he writes it is possible to identify many characteristics that will appear in his next works. In fact, he wisely combined two subjects that were at the center of public interest in those years - the exploration of Africa and flying hot air balloons. Besides the great knowledge he gained from his notes on the subject, he often consulted with Nader, with our mathematician uncle (Henry Garst) and even with the explorer Jacob Argo.
The hero of the novel is Doctor Ferguson, who goes on a mission of the London Geographical Society to explore Africa in the airship "Victoria". Ferguson is a real scientist and researcher, as Verne describes him: "... (he) is not a merchant, missionary, conqueror or settler. He is a learned traveler. He is one of those meek, greed-hating heroes who paved the way for humanity to unknown, bleak lands." He leaves with his delegation from Zanzibar and arrives after five weeks in Senegal, which is in West Africa.
The problem of control and navigation of the hot air balloon was solved by Vern in a rather original way - by searching for suitable air currents in the different layers of the atmosphere. Accordingly, he had to equip the ball with a mechanism that would allow it to go down and up. The many technical details and the accurate description of the landscapes in Africa, led many readers to be convinced that this journey took place in reality.
A hero with a mission
In 1864, Verne published the book "Journey to the Belly of the Earth", which over the years became one of his greatest successes and was even adapted into a successful Hollywood film. The book describes the adventures of a geology professor, his young nephew Axel and an Icelandic companion named Hans, on their incredible journey towards the center of the earth. The journey begins through the crater of an inactive volcano in Iceland, called Sneffels, and ends with a volcanic eruption in the Stroboli volcano, which is in Sicily.
On their journey in the depths of the earth, the researchers discover a great sea above which clouds float and in whose waters strange fish and dinosaurs that have not become extinct are infesting. Yes, they find gigantic mushrooms and even get to see a giant man herding a herd of mammoths. The idea of a journey to the center of the earth was based on scientific theories, developed by well-known scientists, including the astronomer Halley and the chemist Davy.
In the same year, another book by Verne was published, about the amazing journey of Captain Tress to the North Pole. Also at the center of this book is a hero with a goal, who is ready to sacrifice his life for it and no obstacle stands in his way. After hardships and agony, his group reaches an active volcano in the North Pole and Captain Tres descends into it, wrapped in the British flag. In the original version, which was not published, Teres finds his death there, but Etzel claimed that it was too depressing. Vern responded to his publisher, and in the version that was published, the brave captain was saved, but he loses his sanity and spends the rest of his life in an insane asylum, willing to walk only towards the north...
to the limit
In 1865, Verne publishes the two volumes of "Journey to the Moon". In fact, he was not the first to write about this kind of journey - he was preceded by none other than the famous Johann Kepler, who wrote a story called "Somnium or the Astronomy of the Moon" ('Somnium' means 'sleep' in Latin). Kepler, who was a careful scientist, constructed the story in the form of a dream, with winds driving the space travelers to the moon, which is populated by tough-skinned creatures who spend most of the day in caves to hide from the blazing sun.
Kepler's book was full of astronomical details about the moon and its orbit around the earth, but Verne took a completely different approach. The flight to the moon, as he describes it, was built based on physical considerations and technology that was at hand, and thus was his greatness. The heroes of the story are retired American gunners from Baltimore, who decide to build a cannon and launch a manned projectile towards the moon. They choose to build the facility not far from Cape Canaveral - the closest point to the equator in the USA, which is currently used as NASA's shipping point. The choice of the location is not accidental - its purpose is to give the projectile maximum speed, which results from the rotation of the earth around its axis.
Verne describes quite accurately the height of the mountains on the moon and states that its full light is 1/300,000 of the sunlight, a figure close to the modern value, which is 1/465,000. To describe the dimensions of the cannon, cast from iron, he devotes an entire chapter, full of technical details - its length is about 300 meters and its inner diameter is about 3 meters; The bullet, or the compartment where the three passengers and the two dogs are supposed to stay, is made of aluminum - a light and strong metal, the advantages of which the president of the Barbican club describes: "This efficient metal is as pure as silver, resistant to wear and tear as gold, solid as iron and light as glass." In addition, it also manages to provide a logical solution to the problem of air in the cabin. As an explosive, Vern chooses pyroxyl (or - 'explosive cotton'), which is supposed to provide the projectile with the head power suitable for the escape speed. According to modern calculations, the efficiency of the pyroxyl is two to two and a half times that of ordinary fire dust, so here too Dyke Vern is in his choice.
It can be seen that the technology behind the cannon described by Vern was within the reach of the engineers of that time. Verne did not invent anything new, but stretched the existing one to the limit, as he writes himself: "Barbikin and his brave friends, who believed that nothing was beyond their reach, succeeded in solving the complex problems of the missile, the cannon and the propellant. Their plan has been completed, and now all they have to do is carry it out, and what has been done is nothing more than a tiny detail..."
between imagination and reality
In order to calculate the shipping speed and the flight time, Verne used the services of the mathematician Henry Gerst and arrived at a result of 97 hours, 13 minutes and 20 seconds. For comparison, the flight time of Apollo 11 on its way to the moon was 72 hours and 51 minutes. If we add to that the time she spent in orbiting the Earth and the Moon, we arrive at 100 hours and 46 minutes.
The escape speed, Shuran notes, stands at 10,972 meters per second, quite close to the currently calculated speed in a vacuum - 11,155 meters per second. This result can be reached today by any high school student who studies physics, using the law of conservation of energy. When air resistance is not neglected, the calculation is much more complicated. Vern evades this, claiming that the bullet will pass through the layers of air in a short time without affecting him. This is of course a gross mistake, because precisely these seconds of movement in the atmosphere are fateful and the body of the bullet gets very hot, which requires special insulation.
Vern wonderfully describes the feeling of weightlessness and links this phenomenon to the point where the gravitational forces of the earth and the moon are equal - "From the moment they left the earth, their weight and the weight of the missile and everything inside it, dwindled and diminished. Even though they could not feel the decrease in the weight of the missile, the moment had to come when they would start to feel the decrease in their weight and the weight of the devices and tools they used..." Indeed, approaching this special point, the heroes of the book experience the strange phenomenon - "They felt like they were going to Wonderland! Now they clearly felt that their bodies were weightless. When they raised their arms, the arms did not tend to fall back, their heads circled and moved on their shoulders, their feet were no longer planted on the floor of the rocket. It was similar to them when they were drunk..."
It is amazing to compare the description of Yuri Gagarin, the first person to orbit the Earth in space (and a die-hard fan of Jules Verne), about the feeling of weightlessness. This is what he wrote in his diary: "It's a wonderful feeling! You raise your hands and they stay in this position without any effort. The objects are also convenient - there is no need for tables or scaffolding, you can put everything straight up in the air and they don't fall, but float in complete silence..." At the same time, Gagarin's description proves that Jules Verne was wrong and that his passengers would have experienced the feeling of weightlessness as soon as they were ejected from the muzzle of the cannon, as long as no other means of propulsion was activated.
The beauty of the ocean
One of Verne's greatest successes was the book "20,000 Miles Under the Sea", which was published in 1870. He drew inspiration for his writing from sailing along the French coast, in a ship he had purchased two years earlier. In this book, which was probably his most favorite, he describes the submarine 'Nautilus' (as the name of the submarine built by Robert Fulton in 1,800) and Captain Nemo Cabernetta, who fights against slavery and tyranny in the world.
The novel describes the beauty of the ocean, its depths, and the love of Captain Nemo, speaking from the writer's throat: "The sea is a vast receptacle of nature. Life on Earth began in the sea, and who knows, maybe it will also end in the sea... In the sea, a sublime peace prevails. The sea does not belong to tyrants. On its upper surface they still have it in their power to fight, to destroy each other, to repeat the horrors of life on land, but at a depth of thirty feet under water, their reign is already ending. Only here is complete independence, only here is man truly free, only here no one can oppress him!"
Before the book was published, differences of opinion emerged between Vern and Etzel, regarding the nationality of Captain Nemo. Verne wanted him to be of Polish origin and that his hatred would be directed towards the Russian Tsar, who oppressed Poland. On the other hand, Etzel, who feared a diplomatic incident, wanted Captain Nemo's origin to be unknown and that he would generally fight oppression and slavery. This offer, which Verne accepted, gave the book power and mystery, as readers try to understand what motivates its hero.
safe optimism
"Journey Around the World in Eighty Days", published in 1872, was a resounding success. Verne got the idea for the story from Edgar Allen Poe's book - "Three Sundays a Week", in which he describes how a person who circles the earth towards the east, will "earn" a day at midnight on the international date line. In addition, Vern came across an ad from the "Thomas Cook" travel agency, which promised a trip around the world in 90 days.
In the fascinating book, Verne describes the adventures of Phileas Fogg - a terribly punctual English gentleman, and his French servant Passepartout, on their journey around the world. The two go on a journey following the intervention of Fogg with his friends at the London club, using the means of transportation of those days - ships, trains and even elephants. The book was published in Hebrew already last century, by "Altenwind" publishing house in Warsaw, in amazing and entertaining biblical Hebrew. Among other things, you can find the following sentence, which describes the voyage to India - "...and the ship went back and forth on the surface of the water; The female passengers, dressed in ensembles, were seen on the ship's cover and the henna and the sands were seen as a promoter." The success of the book was so great that famous people set out to recreate the journey of Phileas Fogg and tried to break his record - to circumnavigate the world in less than eighty days.
In 1882, Verne published "The Green Ray", which differs slightly from his previous books in that his heroes are not scientists or daring explorers. The plot takes place against the background of the magical landscapes of Scotland, a rowan is piled up by the hand of a craftsman. The heroine of the story is a young Scottish girl, raised by her two cousins, who want to have sex. By chance, the girl comes across an article in the newspaper, which describes an unusual optical phenomenon called the 'green ray' and she conditions her consent to the wedding by seeing it with her own eyes. Thus, they embark on a journey following this elusive horn and even reach the Hebrides. What is amazing is that until the publication of the book there was almost no written evidence of this phenomenon, however after its publication, the number of observations increased, the phenomenon was studied scientifically and many articles were written about it.
In the book, Vern describes the sea in an incredibly spectacular way, which only the poetic soul of an artist is capable of: "The sea has no color of its own; It is nothing but a vast reflection of the sky. Is anything blue? In the shade of blue you will not be described. green? You won't be seen in green either. It is easier to catch him in his anger, when he is sullen, pale, when the sky seems to have mixed up all the heavens above him... Oh, the more I look at this ocean, the more it will grow and become sublime in my eyes! Ocean! This word says it all! Ocean - this is infinity!"
Etzel was actively involved in formulating the final versions of the books written by Verne, and in fact he is responsible for the positive spirit that blew in his first books. Thus, he refused to publish "Paris in the 20th Century" - the second book Verne wrote, because it did not fit his optimistic view of the impact of science and technology on future society. It was only in 1989 that the book was discovered in a safe, by Verne's great-grandson, when it was published. In the book, Verne describes Paris in 1963, at a time "when the need to get rich at any cost eliminates the murmurs of the heart." Etzel claimed that the book could depress readers and damage Verne's career, so it was shelved.
From all of the above, it can be seen that the popular opinion, according to which Verne was an optimist at the beginning of his career, is wrong; It was Etzel's distinct influence, who pushed his protégé to write in this spirit.
Evil is rising
A series of difficult events that happened to Verne - among them the death of Etzel, who was in pain, and the death of his mysterious Parisian mistress - led to a change in his later writings. Yes, additional family circumstances influenced him, especially an assassination attempt on his life (which caused him to limp in his leg), by his nephew Gaston, who was mentally unstable and the move to the field city of Amiens.
As a result, in his latest series of books he rarely writes about scientists and if they do appear, they exploit science in a negative way. In fact, already in 1879 he writes about it in some of his works. For example, the heroes of the book "The Begum's Fortune", which was published in 1879, are the French Dr. Sarzan, who builds a utopian city, and the German Herr Schulz, who builds steel and weapons capable of destroying entire cities. Har Schultz uses technological and scientific knowledge to build a precision cannon, capable of firing lethal shells containing carbon dioxide. Verne describes his grand vision with incredible and chilling prophetic precision: "One day, the professor dreams, the whole earth will become one German homeland. South America is already all ours and in North America we have reached the heart and my steel city will do its thing. If we conquer two or three more islands near Japan, we will spread across the face of the earth." It is interesting to find that this book sold only half the number of copies in which Vern's previous books were sold - the audience did not like the pessimism that blew from him.
In 1886, the book "Rover the Conqueror of the Skies" was published, whose hero is the inventor of an airship called "The Seagull" (similar to a modern helicopter), which is propelled by huge propellers. Robor aims to prove that the future of aviation lies in the development of aircraft heavier than air and does not hesitate to use force for this purpose. He abducts the supporters in the light aircraft from the air and sets out with them on a journey in which they circle the earth. At the end of the journey, Robor realizes that humanity is not yet ready to accept his invention - "Citizens of the USA, my experiment is over and done with, but my opinion is that from now on things should not be preempted, not even the introduction." Science should not precede lifestyles. It is better to act through slow developments and not through revolutions..." A speech like this, would not have been heard from the mouths of Verne's heroes in the journey to the moon.
Back to modesty
In his last years, Vern's health weakened, his vision became almost completely blurred and he would dictate stories to his granddaughters, from his home where he was most of the time. In "The Destruction of the City of the Shetah" (1895), which Vern wrote inspired by his trip to the USA on the ship "Grant Eastern", he describes an artificial island built of aluminum, floated by powerful engines. The island, populated by industrial and stock market elites, is a sort of independent state and includes fields irrigated by artificial rain. Two newspapers are published on the island, printed in chocolate ink, on edible paper. This is apparently a true utopian paradise, where man can spend his days in pleasant idleness. But this is not the case, since human nature has not yet been corrected - between two rival groups of islanders, disputes over rule and honor arise. Finally, they turn the massive engines against each other and the island crashes into pieces. In the closing sentences of the book, Vern restores modesty to man, who, despite his great technological ability, is unable to control the forces of nature - "...to rebuild an artificial island, an island that is not in the days, doesn't that mean trespassing on nature? And nothing is allowed for a person, who is not a ruler of the winds, currents and seas, to withdraw the Creator's permission?...".
It seems that at the end of his life, Vern understands that scientific and technological progress is not a guarantee of correcting society from its ills. The vision of utopian socialism gives way to realism and the understanding that man is a creature that also consists of straits of pursuit of wealth and honor. These, Verne understands, even the greatest technological inventions cannot erase, so science can be misused by corrupt people.
In this spirit, the members of the Artillery Club who sent the rocket to the moon return and appear in the book "Upside Down". Here they come up with another crazy idea and plan to fire a formidable cannonball to change the inclination of the Earth's axis of rotation. In doing so, they seek to bring about global climate change, which will cause the melting of the ice cap in the North Pole and allow them to exploit coal mines that are supposed to be there. They are not at all bothered by the ecological holocaust that their act will cause on large areas close to the coast. They plan to fire the formidable shell, weighing 180,000 tons, from a tunnel they will dig in Kilimanjaro (in today's Tanzania).
Behind the mathematical calculations of the design, stands G. T. Maston - Secretary of the Artillery Club, with whom a distinguished lady named Scurbit falls in love. With captivating humor, Verne describes her admiration for mathematicians: "Mrs. Scurvy, whose simplest calculation gave her a headache, actually understood mathematicians, although not mathematics. She treated them as high and special beings. Heads, in which the x's were created together in a common dance, minds that delighted in mathematical formulas, hands that play with triple integrals with the same ease and skill of Llewellyn". Ironically, the grandiose plan goes ahead and the shell is fired, but nothing happens to the Earth's axis. It turns out that Maston made a mistake in his complicated calculations in a small detail - he forgot to add three zeros to the circumference of the earth, so instead of 40,000 km, he used 40,000 meters. This error, by the way, is caused by a phone call from the same scurvy lady who confused him...
Go for immortality
On Friday, the 24th of March 1905, members of his family and relatives gathered around Jules Verne's bed, including his publisher - Gilles Etzel Jr. Vern said goodbye to them with these words: "Well, you are all here; Now I can go." A short time later he died.
Two years later, a statue made by Albert Rose was placed on his grave in Amiens, depicting the writer emerging from the grave and stretching his arm towards the sky. Next to it was enacted the sentence: "Forward to immortality and eternal youth".
After his death, Michel completed his son's unfinished books and published them, among them - "Lighthouse at the End of the World", "The Invasion of the Sea", "The Golden Storm" and "The Kip Brothers".
Immortal heroes
What then is the magic of Jules Verne? Even today, new translations of his works are published in various languages, including the book "Doctor Ochs' Vision of Illusions", which was translated into Hebrew in 2004. A number of associations of the writer's fans operate around the world, such as the North Atlantic Association, which deals with the entirety of his work and various collectibles. On the Internet you can find many sites dedicated to his works, among them the most comprehensive site, by Dr. Zvi Harel of the Technion.
Several reasons can be given for the popularity that Verne continues to enjoy even a hundred years after his death, perhaps the most prominent is his literary talent, evident in the descriptions of landscapes and heroes, written in the hand of a craftsman and with witty humor.
In the biography "The Life of Jules Verne", the Russian writer K. Andreev, in his attempt to crack the secret of the author's success: "he completed the beauty of nature and art with a new beauty: he revealed to the readers the beauty and romance of creative labor. What appears to others to be gray, common, too abstract, became in the hands of the writer uncommon, brilliant in its multitude of shades, full of luster and full of movement..."
Equally important is the fact that Verne's heroes are immortal. Captain Tress, Captain Nemo, Phileas Fogg and Barbicane, continue to fascinate readers even when their journeys have long since become routine and are no longer a dream. These are flesh and blood heroes, who can and should be like them, people whose character is fearless and ready to do anything to make their dreams come true. No wonder, then, that Verne's books were and are a source of inspiration for great scientists and researchers.
The scope of Vern's work is amazing in its richness, embracing the entire globe and even breaking out beyond it. To this day, there are several books that have not yet been translated into English, so even experts in the work of the great writer still have something to explore and discover. I can testify for myself, that from my childhood I was drawn to Verne's stories due to the amazing combination of adventures and journeys with science, and the belief that through science it is possible to overcome all obstacles and perhaps even create a better world. I am confident that even in the 21st century there will be boys who will read his books and sail on the wings of imagination to magical realms and wonderful worlds.
Courtesy article
The publishers of the journal travel through time. The article is taken from the magazine
Dr. Hezi Yitzhak, High School for Environmental Education, Midrash Sde Boker and the Desert Research Institute, Ben Gurion University
The site of Zvi Harel - a collector and researcher of Jules Warren's works
Coming soon in this series: The Hollow Earth, about the science behind the science fiction in Jules Verne's books.
