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Artillery, Algebra, and Aluminum

From the Earth to the moon; and, round the moon

Bored Civil War veterans decide the only logical use for their giant surplus cannons is to shoot three men at the moon.

Author
by Jules Verne
Type
novel · Science Fiction
Published
1865
Length
Novel
Status
Public domain
From the Earth to the moon; and, round the moon summary

The story in one page

Following the 'War of the Rebellion,' the underemployed ballistics experts of the Baltimore Gun Club find themselves restless. President Barbicane proposes a grand engineering feat: casting a nine-hundred-foot cannon in the Florida soil to hit the moon. The project grows from a scientific experiment into a manned mission when flamboyant Frenchman Michel Ardan volunteers to ride the bullet. Along with Barbicane and the skeptical Captain Nicholl, Ardan survives a launch so violent it creates a localized earthquake. The narrative follows their claustrophobic journey through the void, where they grapple with mathematical errors, the cold of space, and a stray meteor that leaves them dangling in a permanent lunar orbit.

From the Earth to the moon; and, round the moon characters

Who's who

  • Barbicane

    The calculating President of the Gun Club who leads the expedition.

  • Michel Ardan

    A daring, lighthearted Frenchman who insists on being a passenger.

  • Captain Nicholl

    An armor-plate specialist who initially bets against the mission's success.

  • J. T. Maston

    The Gun Club's enthusiastic secretary with a gutta-percha skull and iron hook.

  • The Columbiad

    A nine-hundred-foot cast-iron cannon sunk into the Florida earth.

From the Earth to the moon; and, round the moon themes & meaning

What it's really about

Nationalism
The American obsession with mechanical size and gunnery excellence.
Mathematical Precision
The reliance on algebra to navigate the physics of the void.

Why it's memorable

  • The casting of the cannon, involving twelve hundred furnaces pouring molten iron into a Florida pit.
  • The three travelers floating weightless inside the projectile car after reaching the point of equal gravity.
From the Earth to the moon; and, round the moon ending

The ending, explained

Spoilers — show the ending

After drifting as a lunar satellite, the projectile falls back to Earth, splashing down in the Pacific; the crew is found alive inside, calmly playing dominoes while waiting for rescue.

From the Earth to the moon; and, round the moon discussion questions

For your book club

  1. The contrast between Ardan's romanticism and Barbicane's cold, logical scientific approach.
  2. The logistical realism of the launch site, specifically why Florida was chosen for its latitude.
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