The Prophecies of Jules Verne

© 2012 by Theocharis Vagelis

Jules Gabriel Verne (1828 – 1905) was a French author who pioneered the sci-fi genre. Verne wrote about space, time, water and air travel and described technologies that were non-existent at his time. His most famous novels include “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”, “A Journey to the Center of the World” and “Around the World in 80 Days”.

Thus, the question that arises is the following:

Was Jules Verne a Prophet or was he simply a man with talent and vigorous imagination?

Skyscrapers, Internet and many more
In his novel "Paris in the 20th Century", he wrote about a man living in a future world, dominated by steel and glass skyscrapers. Furthermore, in that future world, there were gas powered automobiles, high speed trains, calculators and a worldwide communications network. Furthermore, he described e-books: “Michel searched for literature... but nothing but technology was available in bookstores."

Ballooning
When Jules Verne wrote "Five Weeks in a Balloon", he had no knowledge whatsoever of ballooning.

Trips to the Moon and Solar Sails
In his novel "From the Earth to the Moon" (1865), Jules Verne not only did he predict “flying to the moon” but also the Apollo Program. In fact, he described an unmanned flight of a cat and a squirrel (NASA later used monkeys) and after that, a manned flight of a team led by a daredevil called Michel Ardan. More impressively, he described how that team was later recovered at sea. The resemblance to the Apollo Program is amazing. Two Americans join Ardan (the same number of astronauts as the Apollo program used) and are launched from a launching site in Florida (a few miles from Kennedy Space Center). When they return, they splash down in the Pacific Ocean! Again, in his novel “From the Earth to the Moon” Verne described solar sails.

Newscasts
Jules Verne described in his "In the Year 2889" article, an alternative to newspapers. According to him, the "Earth Chronicles", in the future, would be spoken to subscribers.

Submarines and Deep-Sea Diving
"20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” may be the most loved Jules Verne novel. In this book, Verne clearly describes a submarine (the infamous Nautilus)! Pretty impressive!

Taser Gun
In “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”, he described a gun that delivers an electronic control device, similar to the taser gun.

Travel Around the World
In 1872 Jules Verne completed “Around the World in Eighty Days”. This was the outrageous story – for his time - of a reserved Englishman, Phileas Fogg, who managed to travel around the globe in less than 80 days.

Helicopters
In his novel, "Clipper of the Clouds" (1886) he writes about a flying ship (Albatross) that maintains its altitude by helicopter rotors.

Skywriting
Jules Verne in his "In the Year 2889" article described "atmospheric advertisements", similar to skywriting.

Misuse of Technology
In his later years Verne wrote a number of books about the misuse of technology and its impact on the environment. In "Propeller Island", he described the destruction of the native cultures of Polynesia. In his story "The Ice Sphinx" he predicted the decimation of whale populations. In his book "The Begum's Fortune", he warned that the world might be destroyed due to misuse of technology and scientific knowledge.

Teleportation
Physicists argue that teleportation is possible. In fact they have teleported photons down the river Danube.

Space Travel: Travel to the Stars
A trip to nearby stars of our solar system requires enormous technological effort. A visit to Centaurus A, with current spacecraft speed, needs 15,000 years. However, physicists argue that man can reach the stars with the help of hydrogen fusion (heating of hydrogen at 1 million degrees).