Science Fiction Predictions Jules Verne

About the predictions of major sci-fi writer Jules Verne in his book 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea including a number of his successful predictions.

Predictor: JULES VERNE

Jules Verne (1828-1905) was perhaps the first SF author to warrant the name. His extraordinary voyages, whether set on Earth or out among the planets, revealed the glowing wonders of a science marveling at its new discoveries. Verne's first success was Five Weeks in a Balloon, but his best-known books are Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (filmed by Walt Disney), From the Earth to the Moon, and The Mysterious Island (also put on the screen).

Book: TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

Published in 1873.

Successful Predictions:

* Self-propelled submarines capable of diving to the ocean's floor, maneuvering underwater, and moving at high speeds beneath the surface of the waves.

* Practical demonstrations of electrical power.

* Electrical clocks that are more accurate than other kinds.

* Electrical stoves and heating coils.

* Electrical generators and motors used in propelling large engines.

* Electrical lights and high-beam searchlights.

* Underwater aqualungs capable of sustaining life for hours at a stretch.

* Practical wetsuits to enable divers to work on the ocean floor.

* Submarine warfare, which renders surface ships helpless against hidden attack.

* Discovery of the South Pole (in Verne's version, most of the polar region is underwater).

Future Predictions:

* Seaweed cigarettes, complete with nicotine content.

* Underwater air guns using glass electric shells that shock their prey.

* Utilization of the ocean as a source for all food (the submarine Nautilus provisions itself entirely from the sea).

* Discovery of the ruins of Atlantis on the ocean bottom.

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