Prophets of Science Fiction - Jules Verne

“Anything one man can imagine, other men can make real.” ~  Jules Verne, Around the World in Eighty Days

Today on Far Future Horizons we present another installment of the acclaimed documentary series  Prophets of Science Fiction which focuses on the life and work of Jules Verne.

Prophets of Science Fiction is hosted by Executive Producer Ridley Scott.

Verne put a man on the Moon in the Victorian Era. He criticized the Internet…in 1863. Jules Verne was also the ultimate futurist, with an uncanny ability to observe the world around him and tell us precisely where our trends and technology will take us next.

When Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon in 1969, he credited Jules Verne with inspiring the mission over a century earlier. In From the Earth to the Moon, Jules Verne not only prophesized that man would walk on the lunar surface, he outlined exactly how to do it...from a Florida launch pad to a Pacific Ocean splash down.

In 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and The Mysterious Island, Jules Verne presents Captain Nemo, an enigmatic science renegade who perfects the Holy Grail of energy with a clean power source that converts water into fuel. The concept has long been considered the greatest of Verne's unfulfilled prophecies. That is, until now. Today, Hydrogen Fuel Cell technology is poised to one day replace fossil fuel as a means of producing clean, renewable energy.

Some sci-fi writers predict future inventions. Jules Verne prophesizes entire future eras.

1879's The Begum's Fortune darkly portends the horrors of the coming World Wars: weapons of mass destruction, chemical warfare, and the rise of a charismatic German madman bent on world domination. Verne's Paris in the 20th Century, written in 1863, nails the details of modern life: skyscrapers, television, Maglev trains, computers, and a culture preoccupied with the Internet.

From the centre of the Earth to the surface of the Moon, the extraordinary sci-fi voyages of Jules Verne continue to inspire art, industry, culture, and technology with an enduring question: Where can science take us?

A very good review by Janice Kay concerning this episode of ‘Prophets of Science Fiction: JulesVerne’ appeared in Science Fiction.Com.

This episode can be purchased direct from Amazon.com.

Prophets of Science Fiction - Jules Verne on Vimeo

  Prophets of Science Fiction Jules Verne from kralj on Vimeo.

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