Other editions of book From the Earth to the Moon : By Jules Verne

From the Earth to the Moon (French: De la terre à la lune) is an 1865 novel by Jules Verne. It tells the story of the Baltimore Gun Club, a post-American Civil War society of weapons enthusiasts, and their attempts to build an enormous Columbiad space gun and launch three people—the Gun Club's president, his Philadelphian armor-making rival, and a French poet—in a projectile with the goal of a moon landing. The story is also notable in that Verne attempted to do some rough calculations as to the requirements for the cannon and, considering the comparative lack of any data on the subject at the time, some of his figures are surprisingly close to reality. However, his scenario turned out to be impractical for safe manned space travel since a much longer muzzle would have been required to reach escape velocity while limiting acceleration to survivable limits for the passengers. The character of Michel Ardan, the French member of the party in the novel, was inspired by the real-life photographer Félix Nadar.

It's been some time since the end of the American Civil War. The Gun Club, a society based in support an idea that a cannon can shoot a projectile so that it reaches the moon. After receiving the support, a few of members meet to decide the place from where the projectile will be shot, the dimensions and makings of both the cannon and the projectile, and which kind of powder are they to use. An old enemy of Barbicane, a Captain Nicholl of Philadelphia, designer of plate armor, declares that the enterprise is absurd and makes a series of bets with Barbicane, each of them of increasing amount over the impossibility of such feat. The first obstacle, the money, and over which Nicholl has bet 1000 dollars, is raised from most countries in America and Europe, in which the mission reaches variable success (while the USA gives 4 million dollars, England doesn't give a farthing, being envious of the United States in matters of science), but in the end nearly five and a half million dollars are raised, which ensures the financial feasibility of the project. After deciding the place for the launch (Stone's Hill in “Tampa Town,” Florida; predating Kennedy Space Center’s placement by almost 100 years; Verne gives the exact position as 27°7' northern latitude and 5°7' western longtitude, of course relative to the meridian of Washington, DC. The Gun Club travels there and starts the construction of the Columbiad cannon. In the end, the projectile is successfully launched, but the destinies of the three astronauts are left inconclusive. The sequel starting in the middle of the book, “Around the Moon”, deals with what happens to the three men in their travel from the Earth to the Moon.

[Audiobook CASSETTE Library Edition in vinyl case.][Read by Bernard Mayes] Voyages Extraordinaires, 1865 Written more than a century before man landed on the moon, this classic adventure tale has proved to be one of Jules Verne's most prophetic. It is also a forerunner of today's science fiction. At the close of the Civil War, the members of the elite Baltimore Gun Club find themselves unemployed and bored. Finally, their president, Impey Barbicane, proposes a new project: build a gun big enough to launch a rocket (a 'space bullet') to the moon. But when a daring volunteer elevates the mission to a ''manned'' flight, one man's dream turns into an international space race. This is a story of rollicking action, humor, and vibrant imagination, full of both satire and scientific insight. Though often scientifically outdated, books of Verne's ''Voyages Extraordinaires'' series still retain their sense of wonder that appealed to readers of his time, and still provoke an interest in the sciences among the young. *This novel was made into a motion picture in 1958, starring Joseph Cotten, George Sanders, and Debra Paget.

Verne's 1865 tale of a trip to the moon is (as you'd expect from Verne) great fun, even if bits of it now seem, in retrospect, a little strange. Our rocket ship gets shot out of a cannon? To the moon? Goodness! But in other ways it's full of eerie bits of business that turned out to be very near reality: he had the cost, when you adjust for inflation, almost exactly right. There are other similarities, too. Verne's cannon was named the Columbiad; the Apollo 11 command module was named Columbia. Apollo 11 had a three-person crew, just as Verne's did; and both blasted off from the American state of Florida. Even the return to earth happened in more-or-less the same place. Coincidence -- or fact!? We say you'll have to read this story yourself to judge.

From the Earth to the Moon is an 1865 novel by Jules Verne. It tells the story of the Baltimore Gun Club, a post-American Civil War society of weapons enthusiasts, and their attempts to build an enormous Columbiad space gun and launch three people—the Gun Club's president, his Philadelphian armor-making rival, and a French poet—in a projectile with the goal of a moon landing. The character of Michel Ardan, the French member of the party in the novel, was inspired by the real-life photographer Félix Nadar.

Volume 4 of 54 of Jules Verne's "Extraordinary Voyages", first printed in 1865. Jules Verne's defining novel of the science fiction genre. After the American Civil War, a group of men set out to construct a ship to provide them passage to the moon. In groundbreaking writing, Jules Verne treats the topic of moon travel in suprising accurate modern detail and calculation years before his time, including the site for the launch in “Tampa Town, Florida”, very close to the future Kennedy Space Center. This particular edition is reproduced from English-edition public works, and is presented simply with an emphasis on straightforward presentation, attractiveness and continuity of appearance, with each title in the "Extraordinary Voyages" sporting a journal-style brown cover accompanied by a cover illustration and quote from the text on the back cover.

During the War of the Rebellion, a new and influential club was established in the city of Baltimore in the State of Maryland. It is well known with what energy the taste for military matters became developed among that nation of ship-owners, shopkeepers, and mechanics. Simple tradesmen jumped their counters to become extemporized captains, colonels, and generals, without having ever passed the School of Instruction at West Point; nevertheless; they quickly rivaled their compeers of the old continent, and, like them, carried off victories by dint of lavish expenditure in ammunition, money, and men. But the point in which the Americans singularly distanced the Europeans was in the science of gunnery. Not, indeed, that their weapons retained a higher degree of perfection than theirs, but that they exhibited unheard-of dimensions, and consequently attained hitherto unheard-of ranges. In point of grazing, plunging, oblique, or enfilading, or point-blank firing, the English, French, and Prussians have nothing to learn; but their cannon, howitzers, and mortars are mere pocket-pistols compared with the formidable engines of the American artillery.

It is the year 1865. Following the end of the American Civil War. The members of the elite Baltimore Gun Club find themselves lacking any urgent assignments. Their president proposes that they build a gun big enough to launch a rocket to the moon. And when their rival places a huge wager that the project will fail, a daring volunteer escalates the mission to a "manned" flight. The gun club's dream turns into an international space race.