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Jules Verne: The First Techno-Writer and the Legacy of 'The Nautilus

  • Writer: James Domenighini
    James Domenighini
  • Feb 24
  • 2 min read

Most people are set in their beliefs and when they run into something that challenges those beliefs, they often react in anger and dismay.


 I don't know if anyone is following my blog or not. Nowadays, "X" is the new blog and I should probably be posting things there.


To begin with: 19th Century Author Jules Verne never wrote science fiction.  The technological ideas of his time inspired his stories.


In 1984, The Naval Institute Press published author Tom Clancy's breakout novel "The Hunt for Red October". It was, and is, a great technological adventure story.  Many people claimed that Tom Clancy was the first techno-writer. But Clancy claimed that author Michael Crichton was the first techno-writer with his breakout novel "The Andromeda Strain" published in 1969. However, the fact of the matter is that Jules Verne, back in the late 1800s, was the first techo-writer.


What is a techno-writer? Someone who utilizes the technology of his or her time to write thrilling adventure stories.


When Jules Verne wrote "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" in the mid-1800s, there was no knowledge of nuclear energy or power in the world. In Verne's novel, his submarine "The Nautilus" was powered by electric batteries, not by a nuclear power plant.


In the 1950s, the US Navy launched the first nuclear-powered submarine. They named it after Jules Verne's Nautilus.


And to honor both the American "Nautilus" and Jules Verne's novel, when Walt Disney Studios filmed "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", they gave it nuclear power.


If Vernes had known back in the late 1800s about nuclear energy, he probably would've given it to his Nautilus. However, as far as I know, no one knew about atomic energy back then.


Think about it.

 
 
 

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