Astronomy and astronomers in Jules Verne's novels

Authors: Jacques Crovisier

(Submitted on 5 Jun 2009)

Abstract: Almost all the "Voyages Extraordinaires" written by Jules Verne refer to astronomy. In some of them, astronomy is even the leading theme. However, Jules Verne was basically not learned in science. His knowledge of astronomy came from contemporaneous popular publications and discussions with specialists among his friends or his family.

In this article, I examine, from the text and illustrations of his novels, how astronomy was perceived and conveyed by Jules Verne, with errors and limitations on the one hand, with great respect and enthusiasm on the other hand. This informs us on how astronomy was understood by an "honnete homme" in the late 19th century.

Comments: 6 pages, 4 figures, proceedings of IAU Symposium 260 "The Role of Astronomy in Society and Culture"

Subjects: History of Physics (physics.hist-ph); Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP)

Cite as: arXiv:0906.1052v1 [physics.hist-ph]

Submission history

From: Jacques Crovisier [view email]

[v1] Fri, 5 Jun 2009 07:56:35 GMT (3476kb)

http://arxiv.org/abs/0906.1052